
Class Oi'j^ 



PUKSKNTIOn BY 




A BOOK FOR EVERY BOY 



"ELEMENTS OF ASRICULTUREs" 

Translated from the French by 

F. G. SKINNER, 

And Published by C. M. SAXTON, Agricnltural Book Publisher. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The following is from the President of a distinguished Agricultural 
Society. Another gentleman of superior accomplishments in South Caro- 
lina, at the head of the cause of Education in that State, as soon as he 
read it, sent for Fifty Copies on his o^ra account, for gratuitous distri- 
bution. It will be seen that Major Jones, President of the New Castle 
County (Delaware) Agricultural Society, lately ordered Seventy-four 
Copies for the same purpose. Certainly no boy in a country school 
should be without it. The retail price of this valuable school-book is but 
25 cents. 



Eglington, Md. 
My Dear Sm,— Your very acceptable New Year's Gift, " The Elements 
of Agriculture, translated from the French by F. G. Skinner," duly 
reached me. I sincerely consider it ^' muUum in parvo''^ — it is just the 
thing. It supplies that desideratum, so often felt, and so long wanted 
to be supplied. It is the identical book required as a first or elementary 
work, to be put in the hands of young and old, who wish to commence 
the study of agriculture as a science. It is valuable for the matter, no 
less than the manner of its arrangement. It can be easily compre- 
hended by the youngest and weakest minds. It will, no doubt, be in- 



troduced in every primary school in ihe country, and ought to be in the 
towns also. I shall make it a point to have it introduced in our primarj 
schools, and make it swell our Agricultural Premium Lists. 

Again accept my thanks for it, and consider me your v/ell wisher and 
friend, 

W.W.W. BOWIE. 

Dear Sir, — I have examined the little work you was so kind as it 
forward, entitled the "Elements of Agriculture," translated hy you from 
the French, and can cordially recommend it to the attention of parents, 
trustees, and teachers of public and private schools, as the best elemen- 
tary work on the science of practical agriculture which has come under 
my notice. 

The importance of introducing into our common schools throughout 
the country a general but accurate knowledge of the fundamental prin- 
ciples of scientific agriculture has long attract-ed my attention, and I 
have earnestly endeavored, wherever I deem it practicable, to engraft 
upon our elementary institutions of learning this interesting branch. 

I trust, my dear sir, the admirable treatise you have given to the 
public will speedily find its way to general acceptance and favor. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

SAMUEL S. RANDALL, 
Dep. Sup. of Coinmon Schools in the State of New York. 

Sandy Spbisig, 5th Month, 1. 
The copy of the "Elements of Agriculture" came duly to hand; and 
although I have not had time to read the whole, have seen enough to 
class it with ;he really meritorious works that may be profitably studied 
by old as well as young, now, or who expect to be, engaged in 
agricultural pursuits. It is admirably adapted, as I think, for the use 
of schools, and where I would like to see it, as it certainly should be, 
generally introduced. I have not leisure to go more fully into a review 
of its merits. It needs only to be examined, to be generally approved of — 
such at least is the opinion of 

Thy friend, very respectfully, 

EDWARD STABLER. 



Wheatland, New Castle County, Del. 
Agreeing fully in the opinion expressed by Mr. Randall, Deputy Su- 
perintendent of the Common Schools of Now York, in the merits and 
value he attaches to the Elements of Agriculture, translated from the 



French by F. G. Skinner; and believing with him, that it may be cor- 
dially recommended to the attention of parents, trustees, and teachers of 
public and private schools, as the best elementary work on the science 
of practical agriculture that has come under my notice ; and seeking how 
to render the best service in my power to the rising generation of agri- 
culturists in Delaware ; this is to enclose the amount requisite to pay 
for seventy-four copies, being one for each of the district schools in this 
county. I am happy to add, that the work has already been introduced in 
the Academy at Newark, by the Rev. Mr. Meigs. 

Yours, JOHN JONES. 



From Governor Brown of Tennessee. 

" Nashville. 
' Lear Sir, — ^Your letter came duly to hand, and soon afterwards the 
little work referred to. The perusal has been highly satisfactory. 

With a very limited knowledge myself upon the subjects of which it 
treats, I am yet fully aware how greatly these matters have been ne- 
glected. I think the work, in the simple form in which it is presented, well 
calculated to do much good. 

So far as our Legislature is concerned, I shall bring the subject to their 
notice through the appropriate committee. 

I cannot see why teachers throughout the country could not at once intro- 
duce the study into their classes, according to your plan. I will cheer- 
fully aid, as far as I can, the furtherance of your benevolent and public- 
spirited object. I have the honor to be. 

Your obedient ser/ant, 

N. BROWN. 

REPORT 

Made to the Central Agricultural Society of the Meurthe. 

Gentlejien, — Two of your new colleagues, Mr. Bentz, Director of tho 
Norman Primary School of the Department of the Meurthe, and Mr. 
Chretien, Professor of Rural Economy in the same school— both honorary 
members of the Central Agricultural Society of Nancy— have just pub- 
lished an elementary work on the science that you cultivate. I have 
been appointed to examine and report upon this work— a duty that I most 
cheerfully undertake. 

I have read, with attention and continued interest, the "Elements of 
Agriculture for the Use of Primary Schools." The first observation that 



Btruck me was, that they had been faithful to their title-page. Thus, 
•we find nothing in their work that is not absolutely elementary, but 
sufficient, nevertheless, for the object in view. The teacher may with con- 
fidence draw upon its pages for aU that seems to be of primary necessity, 
for himself first, and then for the children or adults confided to his caro. 
Another thing that we remarked on opening the new work of our honorable 
colleagues, is the insertion at the end of each subdivision of a chapter, of a 
series of questions, so skilfully put, as to compel the reader or scholar to re- 
view, involuntarily as it were, the subject upon which his attention has for 
a moment been directed. This is a happy idea — an innovation that may 
bear good fruit ; and we do not hesitate to aver, that the complete absence 
of replies seems to us the more judicious, as it compels, in the formation of 
these replies, an exercise of both the judgment and memory. You will not 
fail to remark, gentlemen, that there must inevitably result to the pupil, 
from this method of proceeding, three important advantages— the obliga- 
tion to read attentively each lesson ; the compulsory exercise of two intel- 
lectual faculties, the development of which is in a direct ratio with the use 
that is made of them ; and finally the habit of rendering to ourself an ac- 
count of what is read — a species of exercise that leads to thought and medi- 
tation. 

The division adopted by the authors seems to us simple, proper, and 
logical. In the first part they commence by giving us all the requisite 
knowledge of natural history, and then some general ideas on the cultiva- 
tion of the soil, the physiology and anatomy of plants, and finally on vege- 
table reproduction. The second part is devoted to the study of the soil in 
general, and to that of its physical properties. The diff"erent operations re- 
quired to bring the soil into cultivation, manures, ameliorators, and stimu- 
lants, are the objects of the third part. Under these difi'erent titles are 
arranged the subdivisions, skilfully treated, and entirely within the com- 
prehension of the young readers, for whom the book is destined. 

Thus, gentlemen, by our co-operation with the general council of the de- 
partment, we at once render an act of justice to the authors, and make 
manifest the interest that we feel, not only in the teachers and the 
scholars of the country, but also in the success of primary and secondary 
instruction in matters appertaining to agriculture. 

C. MANDEL. 

Report adopted, and ordered to be printed. 



A BOOK FOB EVERY BOY IN THE COUNTRY. 

ELEMENTS 

OF 

AGEICULTURE: 

FOR THE 

USE OP PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS. 



L. BENTZ, OF FEANCE, 

Director of the Normal Primary Scliool of the Mcnrthe, Membor of the Royal and Central 
Societies of Nancy and Aui'illiac. 

AND 

A. J. CHRETIEK DE EOVILLE, 

Professor of Pairal Economy ui Ihe same School, Member of the Agricultural Society of 
Nancy, &c., Ac. 

APPROVED AND RECOIMJIENDED BY THE GOVERNMENTAL COUNCIL 
OF THE D^kRTMENT QF THE IN^RTHE. 

TE*NSLjn:KD aS% ■XEKPKED^ft) THE «C6B <lll ThS BUn^ PKIMAEY SCHOOLS OF THB 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



BY P. a. SKINNER. 



NEW YORK: 

C. M. S A XT ON, 

AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER 






p^ 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in tlic year 18i3, 

By F. G. SKINNETx, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for 

the Southern District of New York. 



Offt 



REPORT 

MADE TO THE CENTEAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF THE 

MEURTHE. 

Gentlemen : — Two of your new colleagues, Mr. Bentz, 
Director of the Normal Primary School of the Department of 
the Meurthe, and Mr. Chretien, Professor of Rural Economy 
in the same school — both honorary members of the Central 
Agricultural Society of Nancy — have just published an ele- 
mentary work on the science that you cultivate. I have been 
appointed to examine, and report upon this work — a duty that 
I most cheerfully undertake. I must, however, be first per- 
mitted to declare, that with me it is a subject of some delicacy, 
inasmuch as I have myself published two works having the 
same object in view with that of Messrs. Bentz and Chretien ; 
it shall not, however, prevent me from stating candidly the 
impression made upon my mind by their publication. 

I have read, with attention and continued interest, the " Ele- 
ments of Agriculture for the Use of Primary Schools." The 
first observation that struck me was, that they had been faith- 
ful to their title-page. Thus, we find nothing in their work 
that is not absolutely elementary, but sufilcient, nevertheless, 
for the object in view. The teacher may with confidence draw 
upon its pages for all that seems to be of primary necessity, 
for himself first, and then for the children or adults confided to 
his care. Another thing that we remarked on opening the new 
work of our honorable colleagues, is the insertion at the end 
of each subdivision of a chapter, of a series of questions, so 
skilfully put, as to compel the reader or scholar to review, in- 
voluntarily as it were, the subject upon which his attention 
has for a moment been directed. This is a happy idea — an 
innovation that may bear good fruit ; and we do not hesitate 
to aver, that the complete absence of replies seems to us the 
more judicious, as it compels, in the formation of these replies, 
an exercise of both the judgment and memory. You will not 
fail to remark, gentlemen, that there must inevitably result to 
the pupil, from this method of proceeding, three important ad- 
vantages — the obligation to read attentively each lesson ; the 



2 REPORT. 

compulsory exercise of two intellectual faculties, the develop- 
ment of which is in a direct ratio with the use that is made of 
them; and finally, the habit of rendering to ourself an account 
of what is read — a species of exercise that leads to thought 
and meditation. 

The division adopted by the authors seems to us simple, 
proper, and logical. In the first part, they commence by giv- 
ing us all the requisite knowledge of natural history, and then 
some general ideas on the cultivation of the soil, the physiology 
and anatomy of plants, and finally on vegetable reproduction. 
The second part is devoted to the study of the soil in general, 
and to that of its physical properties. The different operations 
required to bring the soil into cultivation, manures, ameliora- 
tors, and stimulants, are the objects of the third part. Under 
these different titles are arranged the subdivisions, skilfully 
treated, and entirely within the comprehension of the young 
readers, for whom the book is destined. 

The publication of the second volume depends, the authors 
tell us, upon the reception that may be given to the first. 
This reserve, full of modesty and good taste, reveals to the 
Society not only the value of its new colleagues, but the zeal 
with which it should encourage and promote their labors. 
However, gentlemen, this sympathy and encouragement have 
recently been generously manifested, by the governmental coun- 
cil of our department, for the elementary work that we have 
the honor to report upon ; the council having ordered the ex- 
penses of printing the work to be defrayed out of the fund ap- 
propriated by government for the encouragement of agriculture. 

If, on the one hand, this intelligent vote is a just and proper 
reward for a useful work, it will also enable its publishers to 
furnish it at a less cost than they otherwise could. Thus, 
gentlemen, by our co-operation with the general council of 
the department, we at once render an act of justice to the 
authors, and make manifest the interest that we feel, not only 
in the teachers and the scholars of the country, but also in 
the success of primary and secondary instruction in matters 
appertaining to agriculture. C. MANDEL. 

Keport adopted, and ordered to be printed. 



BY THE TRANSLATOR, 

WITH UNAFFECTED RESPECT, AND A HIGH SENSE OF THE 
TRUE DIGNITY OF THEIR PROFESSiON, 

TO 

IN 

THE UNITED STATES; 

The followers of a pursuit the most responsible and lion- 
orable, when properly understood ; and yet, in propor- 
tion to its importance, the least honored and the worst 
paid, of all others. 



PREFACE. 

When it is considered that a very large majority of the millions 
who are constantly in training at our country schools are to be cul- 
tivators of the soil, and that on their general intelligence, with some 
knowledge of the principles of their own profession, must in a great 
measure depend, not only the i^rosperity of American agriculture, 
but the permanence of our free institutions; every lover of his coun- 
try must reflect with regret on the want of more diffusive and per- 
fect systems of general educalion, and especially on the absence 
of a plain, intelligible, elementary work on ike principles of agricul- 
ture, for the use of our common schools. This want, it is now 
confidently believed, has been supplied by what is here offered, 
entitled " Elements of Agriculture for the Use of Common 
Schools," which has lately appeared in France, under the auspices 
of the department for public instruction, and been sanctioned, as 
will be seen, by the strong recommendation of men of the highest 
distinction and authority for learning and benevolence. 

This little work is purely elementary in its character, and so 
plainly written, that while the principles are brought within the 
comprehension of children who have attained their twelfth year, it 
can not fail to be entertaining and auxiliary, if not instructive to their 
teachers. If in itself it does not make those who study it accom- 
plished agriculturists, it will at least pave the way for their becoming 
such, by explaining the rudiments of those sciences with which Ag- 
riculture is naturally connected. 

As will be perceived, by reference to the table of contents, the work 
is divided into three Parts. The first treats of Natural History, 
explaining, in a clear and simple manner, the difference between 
Organic and Inorganic Substances, Animal and Vegetable Life, 
Vegetable Reproduction, &c. The Second Part treats, in like per- 
spicuous and intelligible style, of Climate, and its effects upon 
animal and vegetable life. Mineral Manures, more properly 
called by the French v/riters ameliorators, and Animal and Vege- 
table Manures, with their management and application, make up 
the Third Part. FinaUy, *it has been slightly modified, as was 
needed, to adapt it to the soil and climate of the United States. 



CONTENTS. 



PART FIRST. 

CHAPTER I. 
General Notions on the Art of Cultivating the Soil, and of the dif- 
ferent Objects that exist in Nature. 

Lesson I.— Divisions in the Art of Cultivation PAGE 9 

Lesson II.— The diflerent Objects existing in Nature H 

CHAPTER n. 

Vegetable Anatomy and Physiology. 

Lesson III— The Organs of Plants 13 

Lesson IV.— Tlie Root 14 

Lesson V.— The Stem and Leaves — Functions that they fulfil in the Act 



of Nuti-ition. 



16 



Lesson VI.— The Organs of Reproduction 19 



Lesson VII.— Fruit. 



20 



Lesson VIIL— Gej-mination 21 

Moral Reflections • 24 

CHAPTER m. 
The Reproduction of Vegetables. 

Lesson IX.— Reproduction by Generation « , 25 

Lesson X.— Reproduction by Propagation — Layering 27 

Lesson XI.— Multiplication of Plants by Grafting 28 

Lesson XII.— Inoculating 29 



PART SECOND. 

CHAPTER L 
General Consideration of the Soil. 

Lesson I.— The Causes that AflFect the Value of the Soil 31 

Lesson II.— The Mineral Parts of the SoU 33 

Lesson III.— Silex, or Silica 35 



8 CONTENTS. 

LesBon IV.— Clay page 37 

Lesson V.— Carbonate of Lime 39 

Lesson VL— Plaster, Marl, Magnesia, Iron ■, 41 

Lesson VII.— The Organic Parts of the Soil 43 

Lesson VIIL— The Formation of Humus, and its Properties 46 

Lesson IX.— The Action of Humus in the Soil 48 

CHAPTER II. 

The Physical Properties of SoU. 

Lesson X.— Texture and Depth of the Soil 51 

Lesson XL— Situation of the Surface 53 

Lesson XII. — Subsoil 54 

Lesson XIII.— The EflFects of Climate on Vegetation 56 

Lesson XIV. — The Effect of Climate upon Cultivation and upon Animal 
Economy 58 

PART THIRD. 

CHAPTER I. 

Ameliorators. 

Lesson I. — General Views of Manures, Ameliorators, and Stimulants.. .. 61 

Lesson II. — Limmg Lands, or the Use of Lime as an Ameliorator 63 

Lesson III. — Liming Lands (continued) 65 

Lesson IV. — Liming Lands (continued) 66 

Lesson V. — Marl as an Ameliorator 69 

Lesson VI. — Marl as an Ameliorator (continued) 71 

Lesson VII. — Clay and Sand as Ameliorators 73 

CHAPTER n. 
Stimulants. 

Lesson VIIL— Ashea 76 

Lesson LX.— Plaster 78 

Lesson X.— Paring and Buniing 79 

CHAPTER m. 
Manures. 

Lesson XL— Formation, Composition, and Action of Manures 81 

Lesson XII.— Manures (continued) 82 

Lesson XIII.— Litter, and Liquid Manures 84 

Lesson XIV. — Management of Manure 85 

Lesson XV. — Varieties of Manure 87 

Lesson XVI. — Folding Sheep— Animalizcd Manures 88 

Lesson XVII.— Vegetable Manures 90 



PART FIRST 



CHAPTER I. 



General Notions on the Art of cultivating the Soilj and 
of the different Objects that exist in Nature, 



LESSON I. 

DIVISIONS IN THE ART OF CULTIVATION. 

1. The Art of Cultivation. — The object of this art is 
to obtain from the earth the greatest possible quantity of 
products ; and it is usually divided into four parts, namely : 
1. Agriculture, or the cultivation of fields. 2. Horticul- 
ture, or the cultivation of gardens. 3. The cultivation of 
the grasses. 4. Arboriculture, or the cultivation of trees. 

2. Agriculture. — The principal aim of agriculture is to 
produce those plants that are most generally used as food, 
by man and domestic animals ; such as wheat, Indian corn, 
rye, barley, oats, as also potatoes, beets, turnips, clover, 
lucerne, etc. Among the products of agriculture are also 
to be classed what are called the industrial plants, such as 
flax, hemp, cotton, hops, madder, and others that furnish 
materials for different manufactures, either at home or 
abroad. Thus we see that agriculture is the chief founda- 
tion of a nation's power, as it not only furnishes man with 
food and clothing, but also with materials for the mechanic 
arts, and commerce. 



10 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

3. Horticulture has for its object the cultivation of 
vegetable gardens, and orchards. It jBourishes most in the 
vicinity of cities, as there it not only finds a ready market 
for its products, but an abundant supply of manures. It is 
by means of horticulture that the greatest quantity possi- 
ble of products is obtained ; for several crops are usually 
taken from the same ground, in the same year. 

4. Arboriculture treats of the planting, growth, and 
management of trees. It is a branch of agriculture that 
will increase in importance with the decrease, now so 
rapidly going on, in the timber throughout the coimtry. 

5. The cultivation of the grasses, for pasturage and hay, 
is of such well-known importance, that it will be sepa- 
rately treated in this work. 

This work is specially devoted to agriculture and rural 
economy. 

6. A knowledge of the principles that it may be neces- 
sary to follow in cultivation, is called the theory ; the ap- 
plication of these principles to cultivation, is called prac- 
tice ; and he who applies them, is called an agriculturist 
or farmer. 

7. In the theory and practice together, consists the art 
of cultivation. To be a good farmer, it is not only neces- 
sary to possess a knowledge of the theory, but also to 
know how to put it in practice. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. In what does the art of cultivation consist? 

2. How is it divided ? 

3. What is the principal object of agriculture ? 

4. ^Vhat is theory ? 

5. AVhat is practice ? 

6. What is a farmer ? 

7. Does it require a knowledge of the practice and tlieory both, to make 
a good farmer ? 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 11 

LESSON II. 

THE DIFFERENT OBJECTS EXISTING IN NATURE. 

8. The art of agriculture requires some knowledge of 
the different objects that exist upon the surface, and in the 
interior of the earth. It presupposes, consequently, some 
acquaintance with natural history, and principally with 
botany, a science that treats of plants and their properties. 

9. All bodies that exist upon the surf^rce, or in the inte- ■ 
rior of the earth, are divided uito three classes, called the 
kingdoms of nature, namely: 1. The animal kingdom, 
which mcludes man and all animals. 2. The vegetable 
kingdom, in which are included all vegetables, from the 
largest tree to the smallest plant. 3. The mineral king- 
dom, to which belong all rocks, stones, earths, and metals. 

10. Among the beings that exist, some are endowed 
with life, such as men, animals, vegetables, or plants ; the 
others are manimate, or without life, as minerals, rocks, 
earths, etc. The first are called organic bodies; the 
second, inorganic bodies. 

11. The organs are those parts of a body created for the 
maintenance of life. 

12. It is easy to establish the distinction that exists be- 
tween the bemgs of the three kingdoms. Those that be- 
long to the animal kingdom groAV, live, feel, and are gifted 
with the faculty of moving themselves, or locomotion. 
Those of the vegetable kingdom, grow, and live ; a proof 
of this last property is the faculty that they possess of 
nourishing and reproducing themselves. Those of the 
mineral kingdom grow only, and this growth takes place 
in a manner contrary to that of organized bodies. These 
last increase ahvays from the interior to the exterior, 
whereas minerals increase by the addition to their surface 
of small particles that adhere to them. 



12 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

13. The life of animals and vegetables exhibits a differ- 
ence worthy of remark ; it is that vegetables seem to be 
endowed with the reproductive power in all their parts. 
Thus, when the limb of a tree is cut off and planted in the 
earth, it may produce another tree. This is not the case 
with animals. 

14. Minerals, and other brute bodies, united in large 
masses in the bosom of the earth, form rocks that are in a 
continual state of decomposition. The particles derived 
from this decomposition constitute, by their mixture with 
organic remains, the different species of soil that are culti- 
vated. In other words, soils are composed of cf mixture 
of organic and inorganic reinains. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. The art of agriculture presupposes a knowledge of what ? 

2. What is botany ? 

3. Into how many kingdoms is nature divided ? 

4. What are organic and inorganic bodies ? 

5. What are organs ? 

6. How do we distinguish between the beings of the three kingdoms? 

7. How do inorganic bodies increase ? 

8. What remaik can be made upon animal and vegetable life! 



ELEMENTS OF AGKICULTURE. 13 



CHAPTER 11. 

Vegetable Anatomijfknd Physiology. 

LESSON III. 

THE ORGANS OF PLANTS. 

15. To enable the farmer to obtain the greatest possible 
yield from his land, it is necessary that he should know 
the different plants that can be cultivated to the best ad- 
vantage, according to the circumstances in which he finds 
himself placed. It is equally useful to know how to dis- 
tinguish the hurtful plants, or weeds, that flourish in his 
soil. To this end, some notions of botany are necessary ; 
for it is this science (see No. 8) that teaches us the nature 
and properties of plants. It is particularly when we wish 
to study the nature of a soil, or introduce a new plant into 
cultivation, that we feel the importance of a knowledge 
of botany. Soils, as they may be calcareous, clayey, or 
sandy, are more favorable to the growth of one plant than 
another ; and it is by an examination of the spontaneous 
growth, that we are enabled to recognise, almost to a cer- 
tainty, whether such a grain, or such a plant, will thrive 
in our soil. 

16. Botany is divided into several parts ; but those that 
it is the most important to examine here, are the anatomy 
and physiology of plants. 

17. Vegetable anatomy treats of the division of the or- 
gans of plants, and of their respective positions. Vegeta- 
ble physiology treats of the functions of these organs, and 
teaches how plants are nourished and reproduced. 

18. All the organs do not fulfil the same functions : some 
serve for nutrition— that is to say, they procure for 

2 



14 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

the plant the food that it requires; the others serve for 
their reproduction. 

19. The root, the stem, and the leaves, are the organs 
of nutrition. Those of reproduction are the flowers, the 
fruits, and the seeds. There are, liowever, as we shall 
see, when we come to stu|^ each one of these organs sep- 
arately, several that serve, at the same time, for nutrition 
and reproduction. 

QUESTIONS, 

1. WTiy is some acquaintance ■nith botany necessary to the farmer? 

2. Wliat does vegetable anatomy treat of? 

3. Wliat is the objoct of ve:ietablo physiolopry ? 

4. Do all the organs fiiltil the siimc functions ? 

5. Which are tlie organs of nutrition ? 

6. Which are tlie organs of reproduction ? 



LESSON IV. 



THE EOOT. 



20. The root is that part of a plant that generally intro- 
duces itself into the soil, and there sucks up a portion of 
the substances necessary to the nutrition of the plant. By 
penetrating into the earth, it serves at the same time to 
support the plant in position. 

21. The whole surface of the root docs not concur equal- 
ly in the function of nourishing the plant. Its extremity 
is endowed with a greater power of suction than the other 
parts. The mouth that is supposed to exist at the ex- 
tremity of roots, is called spongiole. 

22. There are vegetables, the roots of which do not 
penetrate the earth, but grow upon other plants. These 
vegetables are called parasites. The mistletoe, that we 
see upon so many trees, is a plant of this kind. 

23. That part of a plant immediately between the root 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 15 

and the stem, is called the collar, or neck. Beneath the 
neck, branch off the small roots, or rootlets, that penetrate 
the soil in every direction, in search of the organic or in- 
organic substances that serve as food to the plant. 

24. With regard to their duration, roots may be divided 
into two classes: 1. Annual -roots, those that perish 
after having borne seeds, such as corn, carrots, beets, etc. 
2. Perennial roots, those that live an indefinite number 
of years, as lucerne, for instance. An annual plant may 
often be rendered perennial by preventing its ripening its 
seeds, for it is in forming and maturing the seed that a 
plant exhausts itself, and perishes. 

25. Roots, as regards their shape, may be arranged in 
four principal classes, namely : The tuberous, like pota- 
toes ; the fibrous, formed of small threads that spread at 
short distances into the soil, like those of wheat; the bul- 
bous, resembling the onion in shape ; and the tap-rooted, the 
most of which are fusiform, such as the beet, carrot, pars- 
nip, etc. From these four kinds, all other varieties seem 
to be derived. 

26. Those plants that are cultivated for their roots are 
of vast utility, not only as food for man, but also for do- 
mestic animals. The cultivation of the potato, the beet, 
and the turnip, on a large scale, has been of incalculable 
value to the crowded population of Europe, and has more 
than once saved them from the horrors of famine. Indeed, 
the flourishing condition of the ^riculture of England is 
based almost entirely upon their growth. It is to be de- 
sired that the American farmer should give them more 
attention ; independent of their value in themselves, their 
cultivation is the best preparation that land can receive for 
any other succeeding crop. Roots are drilled, worked 
with a hoe, the weeds are destroyed, and the land is left 
clean. 



16 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the root ? 

2. Does the whole surface of the root contribute to the nourishmeut of 
the plant 1 

3. What is the spongiole ? 

4. What are parasitical plants 

5. What is the collar, or neck ■* 

6. What is an annual root 1 

7. What is a perennial root ? 

8. How may an annual be sometiones made perennial ? 

9. How may roots be classed 1 

10. Why is it advisable to cultivate roots ] 



LESSON V. 

THE STEM AND LEATES — FUNCTIONS THAT THEY FULFIL 
IN THE ACT OF NUTRITION. 

27. That part of the plant which, starting from the col- 
lar, springs erect above the surface of the ground, in search 
of light and air, is called the stem. 

28. Stems are divided into several kinds, depending up- 
on form and substance. Those resembling the stems of 
trees, bear the name of trunks ; and those that are hollow 
and jointed, are called stubble, as the stems of wheat, and 
other cereal plants. There are plants without any stems. 

29. AVhen a stem has the consistency of wood, it is 
called ligneous; when it is tender, like grass, it is called 
herbaceous. # 

30. The parts composing the stems are much more dif- 
ficult to distinguish in some plants than in others. Thus, 
in herbaceous plants, they are not easily detected ; whereas 
in trees, we may almost always distinguish the different 
parts composing the stem. 

31. The trunk, or stem, is divided into the following 
parts: 1. A dry, leathery, tough membrane, the cuticle. 
2. A cellular layer, adhering to the cuticle, and called the 



ELEMENTS OF AGKICULTURE. 



li 



cellular integument. 3. A vascular layer. 4. A whi- 
tish layer, apparently of a fibrous texture, the inner bark, 
which is of a more complicated structure than the other 
layers. Then the imperfectly formed wood, called albur- 
num ; the wood itself ; and finally the pith. 

3^. The leaves are those parts of the plant attached to 
the stem, or branches, and from which they generally be- 
come detached every year. Some are united to the vege- 
table by means of a stem, called footstalk ; and others are 
attached immediately to the plant, without any interve- 
ning link. Many naturalists suppose that it is through the 
under sides of their leaves that plants absorb the gases 
that aid in their nutrition. 

33. Vegetables procure the elements of their subsistence 
not only through their roots, but also through their stems 
and leaves, which in this case play a very important part. 
They absorb, through their pores,* the nutritious gases 
contained in the atmosphere. The quantity, more or less, 
of these principles absorbed, depends upon the organization 
of the plant, the manner of its cultivation, and the state 
of the atmosphere. 

34. It is principally hydrogen and azote, combined in 
the shape of ammonia and carbonic acid,t that is absorbed 

* The minute particles that compose a body are called molecules, and the 
.'interstices, or open spaces between these molecules, are called pores. All 
bodies have pores, and are on that account called poroiis. 

t Air is composed of two principal bodies, oxygen and azote. The result 
of a combination of oxygen with a simple body, is called an acid. Acids are 
easily recognised by a sour taste, and the property which they possess of 
tummg vegetable blues to red. Their names differ as the quantity of oxy- 
gen entering into their composition is greater or less. Thus, when it exists 
in the greatest proportion possible, we terminate the name of the simple 
body in ic : but if the quantity of oxygen is not so great, the name of the 
simple body is terminated in ous — e. g., sulphuric acid, sulphurous acid : nit- 
ric acid, nitrous acid. When we bum a match, we obtain sulphurous acid, 
and sulphuric acid is the liquid substance usually called oU of vitriol. If the 
body formed by the combination of oxygen with another simple body does 
not possess the properties indicated above, it is called an oxyde.- Among the 



18 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

by plants, either through their roots, stems, or leaves. 
This last gas, that never enters into the composition of 
the air in a greater degree than a hundredth part, per- 
forms an important part in the act of vegetable nutrition, 
on account of the carbon that it contains. This body is 
found, in large quantities, in plants submitted to decompo- 
sition or combustion. 

35. Carbonic acid, formed of carbon and oxygen, is de- 
composed, according to some naturalists, in the inner bark ; 
the carbon becomes fixed in the plants, and the oxygen 
escapes. This decomposition, however, cannot take place 
unless the plant is submitted to the influence of light ; in 
the contrary case, the carbonic acid is expelled by the 
stems and the leaves, just as they received it. 

36. Thus we are taught that it would be highly impru- 
dent to sleep in an apartment containing many plants. 
The air, vitiated by the great quantity of carbonic acid dis- 
charged by the plants, might become exceedingly danger- 
ous to the sleeper. 

oxydes, there are some that restore the blue color that has been reddened 
by the action of acids. Their names difier, according to then- degree of oxy- 
genation ; thus we say, protoxyde, deutoxyde, peroxyde of iron, agi-eeably 
to the degree of oxygenation of the metal. 

Salts are formed by the union of acids and oxydes ; and they derive their 
names from their constituent parts. If the termination of the acid is in ic, 
it is changed into ate — if in ous, into ite. The name of the acid thus modi- 
fied is followed by the name of the simple body that enters the oxyde to form 
that of the salt ; thus we will say, carbonate of lime, or carbonate of iron, 
agreeably as the carbonic acid shall have united itself with lime or iron to 
constitute the salt — sulphate of lime, or sulphite of lime, as we may have 
employed sulphuric or sulphurous acid to form the combination. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the stem ? 

2. What is the trunk ? 

3. What is stubble ? 

4. What is a ligneous stem ? 

5. What is an herbaceous stem 1 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 19 

6. Of what parts ia the stem fonned ? 

7. What are the leaves ? 

8. What is the footstalk ? 

9. By what means do plants supply themselves with nourishment? 

10. Why does carbonic acid play a great part in the act of nutrition ? 

11. Where is it decomposed ? 

12. That this decomposition shall take place, what is necessary ? 

13. Why should we avoid sleeping in an apartment filled with plants ? 



LESSON VI. 

THE ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION. 

37. Those are called organs of reproduction, by which 
a plant reproduces others of its kind. The most essential 
are the stamens, or male organs ; and the pistils, or female 
organs. 

38. The pistil, which is usually found in the centre of 
the flower, is fecundated by a species of dust, called pol- 
len, which escapes from the stamens at the moment of 
blooming. These essential organs of reproduction are 
detected in almost any flower ; the pistils are in the mid- 
dle, surrounded by the stamens. When these last alone 
exist in a plant, it never produces seeds ; and so the result 
would be, were we to suppress the upper part of the pis- 
til, which is destined to receive the fecundating powder. 

39. The lower part of the pistil is called ovule, or germ. 
It is the germ which, in consequence of fecundation, yields 
the fruit. This last is nothing more in botany than a fe- 
cundated germ, or ovule, arrived at maturity. 

40. There are some plants whose flowers contain both 
the pistil and the stamens ; these are called hermaphro- 
dites. In other plants the pistil is found on one flower, 
and the stamens on another, but upon diff'erent stems. 
This occurs sometimes, however, upon the same stem. 
Thus with the oak : flowers with the pistil grow upon one 



20 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

branch, and those with stamens on another; but with 
hemp, for instance, these reproductive organs are upon 
different stalks. When the two organs are found upon 
the same stalk, though in different flowers, they are called 
mGncecia (one-housed plants) ; when upon separate and 
distinct stalks, dioecia (two-housed plants). 

41. When plants of the same family are cultivated in 
the vicinity of each other, it frequently happens that 
their produce differs from the parent plant, because it par- 
takes of the nature of both. This is particularly the case 
with the cabbage family. We then say that hybridation 
has taken place. Hybrid plants, in the vegetable kingdom, 
are what mules are in the animal kingdom. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is meant by organs of reproduction ? 

2. Which are the most essential 1 

3. What is a pistil ? 

4. Where are the stamens ? 

5. What is the pollen ? 

6. What is the germ, or ovule ? 

7. What is the fruit ? 

8. What plants are called hermaphrodites ? 

9. What monoecia 1 ^ 

10. Plants called dioecia, what are they ? 

11. What is the meaning of hybridation ? 



LESSON VII. 

FRUIT. 



42. A FRUIT is divided into two parts: 1. The pericarp. 
2. The seed. 

43. The pericarp is that part which, in a pear or an 
apple, is destined to be eaten. In the interior of the peri- 
carp exists a cavity, lined with a thin membrane. It is in 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 21 

this cavity that the seeds are found, which in the fruits 
above mentioned are called pips. 

44. If we examine the seed well, we will find that it is 
composed of a pellicle enclosing another part, called the 
almond. It is within this almond that we find the .em- 
bryo, containing the germ of the new plant. 

45. When the seed is placed in circumstances favorable 
to its development, it germinates, and gives birth to the 
radicle, that plunges into the earth to form the root, and 
the plumicle, that grows upward to form the stem. 

46. The first leaves that appear, after germination, are 
called cotyledons ; and if a plant has but one of these 
leaves, it is called a monocotyledon : if it has several, it 
is called a dicotyledon. Plants that spring up without 
leaves, are called acotyledons. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Into how many parts is the fruit divided? 

2. What is the pericarp 1 

3. Where is the seed found 1 

4. What is the seed composed of? 

5. What is the embryo 1 

6. What is the radicle ? 

7. What is the plumicle ? 

8. What are cotyledons ? 

9. What a monocotyledon I 

10. What a dicotyledon ? 

11. What are acotyledons 1 



LESSON VIII. 

GERMINATION. 



47. When a seed is put in the ground, the moisture 
causes it to swell ; the pellicle that surrounds it is weak- 
ened, and the embryo bursts through. Vegetation then 



22 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

proceeds in two opposite directions, forming the radicle 
below, and the plumicle above. 

48. Germination, then, is the act by which a seed, 
placed in the soil under favorable circumstances, develops 
itself, in order to give birth to a plant of the same kind as 
that whence it sprang. 

49. That a seed may develop itself, and form a vegeta- 
ble, it is not only necessary that it should be placed in the 
soil, and that the soil should contain the humus and min- 
eral substances* required for the nutrition of the plant, but 
there must also be a concurrence of certain atmospheric 
influences, that perform an important part in the phe- 
nomena of vegetation. These atmospheric influences, or 
agents, are heat, moisture, air, and light. 

50. The success of germination and vegetation depends 
upon a union of heat and moisture. Those spots always 
exhibit the finest vegetation in which we find these two 
agents united. If, on the contrary, one of them should 
preponderate for a sufficient time, the plant would suffer, 
and finally perish. It is to establish the relation between 
heat and moisture, that we water plants in dry seasons. 
It is a common practice to soak seeds before sowing or 
planting them, to hasten their germination ; but the utility 
of this practice is more than doubtful ; for at the moment 
of sowing one thing or the other occurs — either the soil 
is sufficiently moist, or it is too dry. In the first case, 
steeping the seed would be useless ; in the other, vegeta- 
tion would suffer, after germination, for the want of 
moisture. 

51. Air is also indispensable to germination, on account 
of the combination of the oxygen which it contains with 
the superabundant carbon enclosed in the seed. It is 

* When vegetables or animals die, tlioy arc dcromposed, and their forms 
changed. The product of this decomposition is called humus. Thus, all 
manures put in the eoil become humus. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 23 

equally useful to plants ; for without it they could not 
grow. Air, however, is not always favorable to vegeta- 
tion ; if stagnant, it is fatal ; if too brisk (as is sometimes 
the case on high hills), it is injurious, as it causes the 
plant to transpire too freely, without yielding it anything 
in return. Air, by its weight, acts as well upon vegetable 
as upon animal economy. By its pressure upon the pores, 
it prevents the escape of the sap and blood from the ves- 
sels in ■v\#ich they are enclosed. Plants perspire most 
during the continued prevalence of dry winds. On the 
approach of a storm or gust, the air is particularly favor- 
able to the development of plants ; for then it is warm, 
and holds suspended a vast quantity of vapors. The vi- 
cinity of cities, and generally of those places where much 
gas is generated by the decomposition of organic bodies, is 
stimulating to vegetation. 

52. Without light, germination can take place, but 
vegetation can not ; or at most it will be very feeble, and 
the plant will soon perish. The flavor and color of fruits 
are due to the influence of light upon the plants producing 
them. A plant deprived of light Avill be pale and of little 
consistence. So, when we heap earth upon celery-plants, 
the object is to deprive them of light, that they may bleach. 
The outside leaves of a drumhead cabbage are green ; but 
the inner leaves, that are deprived of light, are white. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. How does germination take place ? 

2. Wliat is germination ? 

3. Is the soil alone all that is necessary to the germination of plants ? 

4. What is humus ? 

5. Besides the soil, what other agents are necessary to the development 
of plants ? 

6. What is necessary to make the germination and vegetation perfect ? 

7. Why is air indispensable to plants ? 

8. Is the air always favorable to vegetation ? 

9. When and where does air stimulate vegetatioa ? 

10. Is light necessary to plants ? 



24 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

MORAL REFLECTIONS. 

"We have seen, in the lessons of the second chapter, the 
different parts of which a plant is composed — the root, 
stem, leaves, fruit, etc. If we consider the organization 
of plants, the structure of their parts, their astonishing va- 
riety, from the most humble herb to the majestic tree ; if 
we consider their utility, and the benefits they confer upon 
man and the whole animal race, we will discc^er every- 
where the most marvellous order, ^d the hand of Infinite 
Wisdom. We behold a seed planted in the earth, put forth 
roots, a stem bearing buds, branches, leaves, flowers, and 
fruits, in which are enveloped the germs of new plants. 
If, of all the Avondrous works of the Creator, we were to 
see but this, it would be sufficient to convince us of his 
power and his infinite bounty. It is for us, and as it were 
without our concurrence, that nature, or rather a benefi- 
cent God, acts upon this earth. It is for man that the 
fields, gardens, and forests, abound in blessings that would 
be lost did he not make use of them. Let us not be insen- 
sible to so much kindness ; but let us render thanks to Him 
who bestows so much and such constant care on our ex- 
istence, and who watches over our welfare with such 
sleepless solicitude. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 25 



CHAPTER III. 

The Reproduction of Vegetalles. 

LESSON IX. 

REPRODUCTION BY GENERATION. 

53. Plants are reproduced by their seeds, stems, limbs, 
and even leaves (as is the case with the cactus). A ma- 
jority, hoAvever, of cultivated vegetables spring from the 
seeds. It is by this mode of reproduction that we preserve, 
in most plants, their vigor, strength, and fructuous powers ; 
for it is well known that many vegetables, propagated for 
several generations by means of their branches, become 
finally barren. 

54. When a plant is perpetuated by means of its seeds, 
as is the case with wheat, rye, etc., we call it reproduc- 
tion hy generation ; and we say that the reproduction is 
by propagation, when it is any other part of the vegetable 
than the seed that concurs in the formation of the new 
plant. Thus, it is by propagation that the limb or cut- 
ting of a tree produces another tree. 

55. In the reproduction by generation, we must above 
all things be careful in the selection and preservation of 
the seed. That they may unite all the qualities requisite 
to reproduction, it is indispensably necessary that they 
should be thoroughly ripe, and well preserved. We should 
above all things prevent their getting heated, in which case 
they would either not sprout at all, or produce but feeble 
plants. A common mode of testing the quality of seeds, 
is to throAV them into water ; those floating upon the sur- 
face being considered worthless. But another, a better 

3 



26 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 

method, and a more certain test of the germinating faculty, 
is to place the seeds in a saucer, between two pieces of 
cloth saturated with water. After a time equal to that 
which seeds usually require to sprout in the earth, we 
may judge of the quality of those under trial. 

56. Some seeds retain the germinating faculty a long 
ti'me ; but it is considered safer, particularly in field cul- 
ture, to use fresh seeds. It has been remarked that fruit 
accruing from old seeds, that had retained their germina- 
ting power, are better than those furnished by new seeds ; 
these last producing more vigorous stems and leaves. 
Most plants come well from the seed ; some trees only 
thrive best from another method of reproduction. 

57. It is often advantageous to set apart certain rich 
spots of ground as nurseries, or plant-beds, in which the 
seed is sown. After the plants attain the proper size, they 
are transplanted to where they are to remain permanently. 
This is the method pursued with tobacco, cabbages, etc. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. In how many ways are plants reproduced ? 

2. What is reproduction by generation ? 

3. What is reproduction by propagation ? 

4. What should be particularly attended to in reproduction by generation T 

5. What are the requisites of good seed ? 

6. How can seeds be tested ? 

7. What are the results obtained from old and now seeds ? 

8. What is a nursery, or plant-bed 1 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 27 

LESSON X. 

REPRODUCTION BY PROPAGATION — LAYERING. 

58. There are four principal modes of reproduction by 
propagation, namely: 1. Layering. 2. By cuttings. 3. 
By grafting. 4. By inoculation. 

59. Layering consists in bending down the branches, 
Jimbs, or suckers, without separating them from the parent 
plant, and covering them with soil ; their extreme ends 
only being left out. Thus buried, they will generally 
soon strike root ; some particular trees, however, with ex- 
treme difficulty. Such must be tongued — an operation 
which consists in cutting the layer half off, and splitting it up 
an inch or more ; the cleft to be kept open by a small wedge, 
and buried beneath the surface- This operation should be 
performed in spring ; and the plant, when Avell rooted, may 
be separated in the autumn or spring following. 

60. By cuttings. There are many plants that may be 
raised from cuttings. For trees, cuttings should generally 
be from eight inches to a foot in length, cut off at the bot- 
tom, close below an eye, and planted in a humid soil, two 
thirds of their length beneath the surface, and the ground 
trodden hard. With some particular kinds, however, it 
is necessary to square the bottom of the cutting, and press 
it hard down on the bottom of a pot. Other kinds must 
be planted in pure sand, and protected from the sun till 
rooted. They require artificial heat in the soil, and a con- 
fined atmosphere, which moderates their transpiration. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. How many modes are there of reproduction by propagation! 

2. What are layers 1 

3. When a layer takes with difficulty, what is done ■? 

4. When should layers be made, and when cut off? 

5. How should cuttings be prepared and planted 1 

6. What is the treatment of those cuttings that do not take readily? 



28 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

LESSON XI. 

MULTIPLICATION OF PLANTS BY GRAFTING. 

61. Grafting consists in placing a branch or twig of 
one vegetable upon another, in a way to cause the branch 
or twig to produce a new plant, with more valuable 
products. 

62. The plant grafted upon is called the stock; the 
plant grafted, the scion. Grafting is particularly useful to 
perpetuate certain vegetables, that are by nature endowed 
with peculiar properties, that would be lost were the plant 
continued by means of the seed. 

63. Professor Thouin has described forty modes of graft- 
ing : we will describe here three — cleft- grafting, graft' 
ing hy approach, and root- grafting. 

64. Cleft-Grafting. — This mode of grafting is usually 
practised on stocks of from one to two inches in diameter. 
It is thus performed : The head of the stock is carefully 
sawed or cut off, at a part free from knots, and the top 
pared smooth. With a thin knife, split down the stock 
through the centre, to the depth of about two inches ; in- 
sert a wedge to keep it open for the reception of the scion. 
The scion is to be prepared in the form of a wedge, with 
an eye, if possible, in the upper part of the portion thus 
formed. Perfect success is the more certain when this is 
the case. The scion is now carefully inserted, so that the 
inner bark of the scion and the inner bark of the stock may 
both exactly meet. In large stocks, sometimes four scions 
are inserted. The whole is now to be carefully covered 
with the grafting clay, except two or three eyes of each 
scion. 

0)5. Grafting by Approach. — This is often resorted to 
with plants that succeed with difficulty by other modes. 
The limb or limbs of each plant, which are to be thus 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 29 

united, must be prepared with a long, sloping cut, of seve- 
ral inches, nearly to the centre ; and the part of each plant 
thus prepared are to be brought together and firmly se- 
cured by a bandage, so that the bark shall exactly meet on 
at least one side ; they are then covered, at the junction, 
with clay or composition. When a complete \mion has 
taken place, the trees are separated with a knife, by cut- 
ting off the scion helow the junction, and cutting off the 
stock above. 

66. Root-Grafting. — This operation is often performed 
on grape-vines, just below the surface of the earth, by the 
usual mode of cleft-grafting. It is also performed on por- 
tions or pieces of root, where suitable stocks are scarce. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is meant by grafting 1 

2. How is the plant grafted upon called ? 

3. What is the scion ? 

4. Why is grr/ting particularly useful ? 

5. How many modes of gi'afting are there ^ 

6. Describe cleft-grafting. 

7. How is grafting by approach perfonned ? 

8. Describe root-grafting. 



LESSON XII. 

INOCULATING. 

67. Inoculating is the operation of transferring any 
desirable variety of trte upon the stock of an inferior va- 
riety. The operation is principally practised on small 
trees, and only during the time when the sap flows freely, 
and chiefly during the months of August and September. 

68. Select for the buds the ripest yomig twigs of the 
year, and cut off the leaves, leaving the footstalk entire. 
Having selected a smooth place in the stock, make a per- 

3* 



30 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

pendicular slit downward, quite through the bark, an inch 
or a little more in length. Make a cross cut at the top of 
this slit, quite through to the wood, a little slanting down- 
ward. Next raise the bark on each side of the slit, from 
top to bottom, taking care not to injure the sap-wood. 
Proceed then quickly to take ojBf a bud. This is done by- 
entering the knife about half an inch below the bud, quite 
through the bark, and separating the bark from the wood, 
to the same distance above the eye ; always leaving a very 
thin slip of wood, about one third the length of the bud. 
This thin slip of wood occupies the middle section of its 
length. The bud is to be immediately inserted in the stock 
to the bottom of the slit, and between the bark and the 
wood ; the top of the bud being squared even with the 
cross cut, every part, except the eye, is firmly bound, and 
covered with baize matting. 

69. When the season is far advanced, and the sap flows 
less freely, it is best to take out the whole of the wood, 
leaving always the root of the bud. The string is usually 
taken off in about ten days. In the succeeding spring, 
when the frost is out of the ground, and the buds begin to 
swell, cut off the stock, about a quarter of an inch above 
the bud, sloping downward on the opposite side. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is inoculatiou 1 

2. On what is it usually practised, and when ? 

3. How is the operation performed ? 

4. When is it best to take all the wood from the bud t 

5. When is the string to 1% taken off? 

6. When and how is the stock to be cut off' 



ELEMENTS OF AGIUCULIURE." 31 



PART SECOND. 



CHAPTER I. 
LESSON I. 

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OF THE SOIL, AND THE CAUSES 
THAT AFFECT ITS VALUE. 

1. That portion of the earth turned up by the plough, 
and in which plants are developed, is called the soil. 

2. That portion of the earth which is not cultivated, and 
which lies immediately beneath the soil, is called the sub- 
soil. In certain cases, it is advantageous to bring a por- 
tion of the sub-soil to the surface, which is effected by 
deeper ploughing or digging than usual ; the depth of the 
soil is increased, and by this means better crops are ob- 
tained. We will see presently, however, that there are 
circumstances in which the soil would not be at all bene- 
fited by this course. 

3. The soil is formed of two kinds of principles : some 
are of ve^table and animal origin, the others are of mine- 
ral origin. These last form the earth properly so called, 
and constitute the activity of the soil ; the first its richness. 

4. That a soil may yield abundant crops, it is necessary 
that its activity should be in proportion to its richness ; 
but it is generally the first quality that predominates, in 
which case the yield is but little. 

5. From what precedes, we must see that almost all 
?oils must differ in value ; for it is rare to find two pre- 
cisely alike as regards composition. In some (and it is 



32 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

the smallest number), the richness (organic remains) is in 
excess, though in very variable proportions. In others 
there is an excess of mineralogical principles. In either 
case the cultivator is the loser ; for in the first soils, most 
crops would lodge,* and on the second the vegetation 
would be thin and meager. 

6. We must not conclude that the nature of the soil and 
the proportion of its constituent elements alone influence 
its value. Without doubt, these causes contribute much ; 
but there are many other circumstances, such as the expo- 
sure and depth of the soil, and the nature of the sub-soil, 
that in a greater or less degree affect the value of land. 
Thus, a lot in which the soil is not more than four inches 
deep, is not near so valuable as one in which it is a foot 
deep, though the soil is precisely alike in each. The 
value of land may also be affected by the nature of the 
sub-soil, for if it be impervious to water, the plants may 
suffer from too much wet ; if too porous, they may suffer 
in seasons of drought ; and finally the sub-soil may contain 
mineral principles inimical to vegetation. 

7. It results from what we have just said, that the clas- 
sification of soils can not depend upon the relative propor- 
tions of the elements of which they are constituted, not- 
withstanding the contrary opinion, emitted by some emi- 
nent writers. It is only by the cultivation of a farm, by 
a close examination of its condition in all seasons, wet and 
dry, and by the consideration of other circumstances that 
we shall indicate hereafter, that we can form an estimate 
approximating its real value. 

* When the growth of grain is too highly stimulated by manure, or any 
other agent, the stems do not acquire sufficient consistence or strength to 
maintain an erect position ; they fall down, and this is called lodging. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 33 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the soil ? 

2. What is the sub-soil ? 

3. May the depth of the soil be increased 7 

4. Into how many classes do we divide the constituents of the soil ? 

5. That a soil may be fertile, what is necessary ? 

6. What is the defect in too rich a soil 1 

7. How is the vegetation in a poor soil ? 

8. What are the qualities to the value of a soil ? 

9. Can a soil be classed according to the relative proportion of its constit» 
uent parts ? 

10 Which is the best way to determine the value of a farm ? 



LESSON II. 

THE MINERAL PARTS OF THE SOIL. 

8. As we have before said, the soil is composed of some 
substances of mineral and others of vegetable and animal 
origin. These last accrue from the organic remains of the 
vegetable and animal kingdoms, and are decomposed upon 
and under the surface of the earth, or have been thrown 
upon the fields by the cultivator. That they may produce 
a proper effect, it is necessary that they should be mixed 
with mineral substances ; for alone they would be injurious 
to plants, as they would render vegetation too active. 

9. Among the mineral substances that enter into the 
composition of soils, and those that are the most frequently 
found, and'in the greatest quantity, are, silex, or silicious 
sand ; alumine ; and the carbonate of lime.* 

10. The other bodies that also enter into the composi- 
tion of the soil, but less frequently and in less quantity, 
are, sulphate of lime,t or plaster ; carbonate of magnesia ; 

* Carbonate of lime is formed by the union of carbonic acid with oxyde 
of calcium, or with lime. All bodies thus formed by the union of an acid 
and an oxyde, take, as we have said before, the name of a salt. 

t A salt foi-med by the union of sulphuric acid and ]ime. 



34 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

oxyde of iron ; and oxyde of manganese. These last two 
are the only mineral parts that give color to the soil. 

11. If the whole of the soil was formed of one of these 
elements, it would be completely barren ; it could only be 
rendered fit for cultivation by mixing with it a sufficient 
quantity of earth. 

12. Soils that contain much silex are called light, or 
sandy ; those, on the contrary, that contain much clay,* 
are called strong, stiff, or clayey. 

13. A clayey is much more compact and tenacious than 
a sandy soil. It is almost always very difficult to work ; 
whereas a light soil is easily worked, at all times. 

14. The different soils, then, may be divided into three 
classes, as regards their tenacity, or the difficulty of work- 
ing them, and their fitness for one vegetable rather than 
another: 1. Silicious, or light land. 2. Loamy land, or 
that which is brought to a medium consistence, either by 
amendments, by manures, or even by cultivation. 3. Stiff, 
or clayey lands. There are, however, several other divis- 
ions admitted, depending upon the nature and quantity 
of the constituent elements of the soil. Thus those are 
called calcareous soils, which contain carbonate of lime ; 
peaty soils are those which contain peat ; ferruginous or 
ocherous soils, those which contain iron or ochre ; and 
finally those are called alluvions, that are formed by the 
deposites of streams and rivers, — and these are usually the 
Dest for cultivation. 

15. If it is useful to be thoroughly acquainted with the 
properties of the constituent elements of a soil, it is less 
with a view to appreciate the value of the land, than 
to ascertain what ameliorators! should be employed in its 
improvement. 

* Clay is a combination of alumine and silex. 

tWe designate as ameliorators those substances which, placed in the soil, 
change ita nature, by rendering it more friable, or more compact; Thus, 



elSients of agriculture. 35 

questions. 

1. Whence come the organic substances found in the soil 1 

2. What mineral elements are found in the earth in the greatest quantity ? 

3. Which are those more rarely found 1 

4. In which case is the soil entirely barren? 

5. What is a hght soil ? 

6. What is a stiif soil 1 

7. Which are the most diiiicult lands to cultivate 1 

8. Into how many classes may soils be divided 1 

9. What is understood by calcareous soils 1 

10. What by loamy land ? 

H, Which is the best to cultivate 1 ^ tr ^u 

12. Why is it particularly useful to be famiUar with the properties of the 
constituents of a soil 1 



LESSON III. 

SILEX, OR SILICA. 

16. SiLEX, or silicious sand, is composed of two ele- 
ments — oxygen, and a metal called silicium. This metal 
is found in the common flint, in almost a pure state. It is 
not soluble in water, and can only be decomposed by fluo- 
ric, or phosphoric acid. An earth is recognised to be sili- 
cious when, mixed with water, it will not work into a 

paste. 

17. Silica is very generally diffused throughout the 
earth. It is met with, in greater or less quantities, in al- 
most all soils ; and when not in excess, so far from being 
injurious, it is beneficial to the soil, by rendermg it lighter, 
easier to work, and more favorable to vegetation. 

18. But when sand predominates in a soil, it communi- 
cates defects that diminish its value. Crops upon it are 
exposed to suffer from drought, because silica does not 

lime is an ameliorator, by the property which it possesses of rendering stiff- 
lands of easier cultivation, and giving more compactness to lands that are 
too light. 



36 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

combine with water ; and the least heat causes it to lose 
the little moisture that it might possess. 

19. Sandy lands do not easily combine with manures, 
the soluble parts of which are either carried off by rains, 
or filtrate through the sub-soil. This renders it necessary 
to put on weak manures, and renew them frequently. 

20. Sandy lands, being very friable, do not require much 
work ; for we would thereby increase a porosity already 
too great, and render the roots of the plants cultivated in 
them liable to exposure. To avoid this difficulty, these 
lands are often left in pasture for several years ; sometimes 
they are rolled, after being sown, to render them more 
compact ; or sheep are penned upon them. In the latter 
case, the soil is improved in two ways ; by the tramping 
of the sheep, and by their droppings. Sandy lands possess 
the advantage of clayey lands, in being at all times in a 
condition to work without injury. 

21. Sandy and gravelly soils difier in value, agreeably 
to the state of the silica, and the proportion in which it is 
combined with other elements. When they are composed 
of coarse sand and pure gravel, they are of little or no 
value ; for they will yield but poor crops, even with a great 
outlay in manure. Some writers have advised these lands 

'to be converted into meadow; but this can only be done 
(if then at a profit) where they can be easily irrigated ; 
for without the necessary moisture, most of the natural 
meadow-grasses would speedily perish, in seasons of 
drought. 

22. Of the cereals, rye is almost the only grain that suc- 
ceeds well in sandy lands ; wheat, and even barley, do not 
thrive on them. But Indian corn, buckwheat, and root 
crops, with plenty of manure, will do very well. Crops 
ripen earlier in these soils ; but their early maturity is 
sometimes at the expense of their quality. Root crops 
grown upon them, if not &o heavy, are more nutritious 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 37 

than those grown upon stiff lands, because they are less 
watery. 

23. Silica is found in the ashes of almost all vegetables, 
but principally in those of the cereals. This is why it 
has been supposed that it concurs in the nutrition of plants, 
although from its nature it does not seem fit for this func- 
tion. In all cases, its principal function is to act mechan- 
ically upon the soil. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Of what is silica composed? 

2. How is a silicious soil recognised ? 

3. Is it widely diffused throughout the earth ? 

4. Is it always injurious to land ? 

5. To what are crops gi-owing in sandy land exposed ? 

6. How does it combine with manures ? 

7. Does sandy land require much work ? 

8. What is done to prevent the roots from being exposed? 

9: Under what ckcumstances ought sandy lands to be converted into 
meadows ? 

10. What cereals can be cultivated on them ? 

11. What crops tlirive best on them? 

12. In what bodies is silica found ? 



LESSON IV. 

CLAY. 

24. Clay is composed of silica and another body called 
alumine, or alumina. This last, when obtained in a pure 
state, is a powder of a whitish color ; it is distinguished 
by the facility v/ith which it absorbs water. 

25. Land m which clay predominates is not everywhere 
of the same color. It is often of a reddish hue ; this is 
owing to the oxyde of iron it contains. If it contains a 
large proportion of humus, it becomes black, and loses its 
color by calcination. 

26. Clayey soils have, as their distinguishing character, 

4 



38 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

the adhesiveness of their parts (due to the plastic property 
of the alumine they contain) ; and this property alone will 
enable even the inexperienced to discriminate them. A 
stiff clay when dried, by either natural or artificial heat, 
becomes so hard as to resist a considerable mechanical 
pressure. This property makes it valuable for the manu- 
facture of bricks, tiles, pottery, etc. 

27. On account of the tenacity of such soils, they are 
tilled with more difficulty than the freer soils. They re- 
quire to fertilize them a larger proportion of manures ; but 
they retain the effects of these manures a longer time. 
They are better suited to the cultivation of plants with 
fibrous than wath fleshy roots, or tubers, 

28. Soils of this class, as of every other, possess many 
degrees of natural fertility. The poor clays form, for the 
most part, an unprofitable soil ; because, while their powers 
of production are inconsiderable,- the expenses of tilling 
them are large. The clay soils of this character are gene- 
rally of little depth, and rest upon a retentive subsoil. 
The natural herbage they produce is coarse, and not very 
nutritious ; and they are not well suited to the cultivated 
grasses, and other herbage plants. They are little fitted 
for the growth of turnips, or other plants with fleshy roots 
or tubers. Such soils have everywhere local names, which 
sufficiently denote their qualities ; and they are termed, by 
not an improper figure, cold soils. 

29. Very different in their value and nature are the 
richer clays. These bear weighty crops of all the culti- 
vated kinds of small grain ; they do not excel the better 
soils of other classes so greatly in the production of corn, 
and still less in that of barley, in which the lighter loams 
may surpass them. But they are unequalled in the pro- 
duction of wheat, and in many places derive their de- 
scriptive appellation from that circumstance, being termed 
wheat soils. They will yield large returns of the culti- 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 39 

vated grasses and leguminous herbage plants, though they 
are not so quickly covered with the natural herbage plants 
of the soil, when laid down to perennial pasturage, as the 
lighter soils. 

30. Clays, like other soils, approach to their most per- 
fect condition as they advance to that state which has been 
termed loam. The. effect of judicious tillage, and of the 
application of manures, is to improve the texture of such 
soils, as well as to enrich them. Thus, clays in the neigh- 
borhood of cities become dark in their color, and less cohe- 
sive in their texture, from the mixture of animal and vege- 
table matter ; and thence acquire the properties of the 
most valued soils of their class. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the composition of clay ? 

2. What is aluraine ? 

3. Why are clay soils sometimes red 1 

4. What is their distinguishing character ? 

5. Wliat manufacture is clay valuable for, and why ? 

6. Are they as easily worked as other soils 1 

7. What is said about the application of manures to clays ? 

8. What class of plants succeed best in them ? 

9. Why are they unprofitable to cultivate ? 

10. They are unfitted for the growth of what plants ? 

11. Clay soils are unequalled, when of fine quality, for the production of 
what? 

12. They jield large returns of what ? 

13. What is the eiiect of manures and judicious tillage upon their texture ? 

14. What is the eifect of animal and vegetable manures upon their color? 



LESSON V. 

CARBONATE OF LIME. 



31. As we have indicated (No. 9), carbonate of lime is 
formed by carbonic acid and lime. Carbonic acid is a gas 
heavier than air ; large quantities of it are thrown off by 
burning charcoal. 



40 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTUIiE. 

32. All earths that contahi carbonate of lime are calca- 
reous, and an excess is injurious, as the plants would fire. 
On the contrary, if the carbonate of lime is in suitable pro- 
portion, it is advantageous to the soil, and renders it better 
for cultivation. 

33. Chalk, marble, limestone, shells, are calcareous. 
When exposed to the action of heat, the carbonic acid es- 
capes, and they are converted into lime. Some of these 
substances, that become friable from the effects of frost, 
may improve the soil by increasing its depth. 

34. Carbonate of lime is found almost pure in marble, 
but in other bodies it is often united with foreign sub- 
stances. It can only be effective in the soil Avhen reduced 
and pulverized by the action of heat. If it remained in 
its primitive state of stone, it would be more injurious 
than beneficial — impeding the plough, breaking imple- 
ments, occasioning loss of time, and extensive repairs. 
This applies, hov/ever, to large stones only; for if they 
are very small they improve clay lands, by rendering them 
less tenacious. 

35. We know that lands containing clay in large quan- 
tities, are very compact, and difficult to cultivate. Car- 
bonate of lime, reduced to an earthy texture, serves to 
loosen and render them more permeable to air, and to give 
them, consequently, properties favorable to vegetation. 

36. There are also soils containing organic remains, 
that decompose with great difficulty, and from which, 
consequently, cultivated vegetables can derive but little 
benefit. Thus, with soils that have been a long time in 
fallow, and are clothed with fern, sedge, rushes, etc., if we 
content ourselves with merely turning them luider, without 
the application of such substances as lime to favor their 
decomposition, a long time may elapse before the vegeta- 
tion, so turned under, will produce the desired effect. 

37. Sometimes even the substances contained in a soil 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 41 

are totally inert, and would so remain for centuries, with- 
out encouraging vegetation. Carbonate of lime possesses 
the property of decomposing all these remains, and of ren- 
dering them fit to serve the nutrition of plants. It also 
destroys the acidity of certain soils. We shall, however, 
have occasion to recur to the effect of mineral manures. 

38. Certain plants seem to prefer calcareous to all other 
soils, as sainfoin and lucerne, both forage plants. The fa- 
mous vineyards of Champagne are on a soil eminently cal- 
careous. 

39. Potatoes, turnips, beets, cabbages, Jerusalem arti- 
chokes, grow finely in calcareous soils ; as do peas, corn, 
barley, tobacco, etc. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the composition of carbonate of lime 1 

2. What is understood by calcareous earth ? 

3. What is the effect of too much carbonate of lime T 

4. What the etlbct when it exists in the right proportion ? 

5. What are the calcareous substances most commonly met with ? 

6. What occurs when carbonate of lime is exposed to the action of heat? 

7. What is the effect of calcareous substances upon the soil when they 
are rendered friable by frost ? 

8. In what state must the carbonate of lime be to produce the proper 
etfecf? 

9. What is the eifect of carbonate of lime on clay soils ? 

10. On soils containing orgaDic remains of difficult decomposition ? 

11. On acid soils ? 

12. What plants prefer calcareous soil ? 



LESSON VI. 

PLASTER, MARL, MAGNESIA, IRON. 

40. Among the mineral substances that enter into the 
composition of soils, there are some of more rare occur- 
rence, and in smaller quantity, than silica and clay, 
4* 



42 ELEMENTS OF AGKICULTURE. 

These are plaster, marl, magnesia, iron, and manga- 
nese.* 

41. Plaster, or gypsum,! is of importance not only as a 
constituent part of certain soils, but also on account of the 
effect that it produces upon certain plants, to the growth 
of which it is particularly favorable. It is diffused through- 
out nature to some extent, and in some localities it is quar- 
ried in large quantities. After being pulverized, it is used 
either in building, or as an agent of vegetation. There is 
this difference between carbonate and sulphate of lime : 
when exposed to heat, the first loses its acid ; whereas the 
second, as it never separates from its sulphuric acid, ever 
remains in the state of a salt. 

42. Marls are found in many soils, and sometimes m 
such quantities as to make them unfruitful. They are of 
different colors — white, gray, blue, etc. Their elements 
are generally clay and carbonate of lime, often mixed with 
silica, or shells that also contain carbonate of lime. Marl 
is said to be more or less rich as it contains more or less 
carbonate of lime. 

43. Marls, as we shall see hereafter, are very useful in 
the amelioration of lands. They are distinguished from 
other earths by the effervescence produced when they are 
brought in contact with acids. This property is common 
to all substances containing calcareous principles. 

44. Magnesia, which in a pure state is a white, insolu- 
ble substance, is generally found in the soil in the state of 
a carbonate — that is to say, united with carbonic acid. 
Some writers pretend that this body, if employed without 
being calcined, is injurious to vegetation ; but this is not 

* This last, as well as some other earthy bodies, are met with so rarely, 
and in such inconsiderable quantities, that we will make no further allusion 
to them. 

t Frequently called gypsum : it is composed of sulphuric acid, liiue, and 
water. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 43 

confirmed by facts. It is probable that carbonate of mag- 
nesia acts upon the soil like carbonated lime. 

45. Iron is found in the soil in the stale of an oxyde ; 
that is to say, united with oxygen. It is sometimes, also, 
met with as a carbonate. It rarely exists in large quantity 
in the arable soil ; if it existed in proportions rather strong, 
it would render the last entirely barren. 

46. Iron, through its property of coloring soils, causes 
them to absorb more heat ; for it is well known that white 
substances are not so readily warmed by the solar rays as 
black ones. 

47. Iron is more or less injurious according to the (de- 
gree of oxydation. When it does not contain the whole 
of the oxygen with which it is capable of combining, it 
injures vegetation. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What substances besides silica and clay are sometimes to be met 
with in the soil ? 

2. Is plaster of importance to agi-iculture ? 

3. Is it generally disseminated throughout nature 7 

4. Of what is marl composed ? 

5. Wliich are the richest marls ? 

6. To what use are they put ? 

7. How do we detect the presence of calcareous principles in a soil ? 

8. What is magnesia 1 

9. In what state is iron found in the soil ? 

10. Is a ferruginoiis soil fertile ? 

11. How can iron render the earth warmer? 



LESSON VII. 

THE ORGANIC PARTS OF THE SOIL. 

48. That a soil should be productive, it is not alone 
sufficient that it should contain, in suitable proportions, 
the mineral substances that we have studied in the pre- 



44 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

ceding lessons ; but it must also, united with the minera- 
logical elements, contain elements of organic origin ; for 
these last play a very active part in vegetation. 

49. If we examine closely what passes in nature, we 
will perceive that all organized bodies are continually 
changing in shape, until finally, the vital principle ceasing 
to exist in them, they perish and decompose. It is these 
decomposed bodies that we put on the land to satisfy the 
wants of plants, which, after having served as food to man 
and animals, become the source of a new vegetation. 

50. This alternate and continual change has caused it to 
b^said that vegetation is the source of reproduction, and 
in truth : " No plants, no animals ; no animals, no manure ; 
no manure, no cultivation." As we perceive, bodies are 
not annihilated ; they are only continually assuming dif- 
ferent forms. The earth may be considered as a mediator 
between life and death, as it receives from disorganized 
vegetables elements that it gives back to a new organic life. 

51. A soil is the richer, and consequently the more pro- 
ductive, as it contains more organic remains. On the other 
hand, as we have some crops that are more exacting than 
others as regards the quantity of nutritive elements that 
they require, it follows, that the farmer should take the 
least exhausting crops from the least fertile land ; for in 
rational agriculture we can never exact from a soil more 
than we give it, or more than its nature permits it to fur- 
nish. 

52. The soil is not always exhausted by the crops that 
it yields ; for such crops leave remains that decompose in 
the soil. These remains are the leaves, stems, and roots 
of the plant. The more numerous they are, the less is the 
soil injured ; and it may be (as with clover), that it has 
lost none of its value ; so that, to obtain other products, it 
is not necessary to add to the organic remains already 
within it. But the farmer ought, in this case, to be 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 45 

thoroughly acquainted with the exhausting power of the 
plants that he cultivates, so as not to exact from the 
land more than it can yield. We shall return to this sub- 
ject hereafter. 

53. All organic. bodies are not composed alike, nor are 
they of equal value as manures. They may be derived 
from vegetables or animals. Those of vegetable origin are 
formed for the most part of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon.*^ 
There are a few vegetables, such as the cabbage and rape, 
that contain azote.f Animal remains, on the contrary, all 
contain azote, united to the three other bodies ; and for 
this reason they are more nourishing, more active, but less 
durable, than vegetable substances, because they are de- 
composed more rapidly. 

54. All organized bodies are not decomposed with equal 
rapidity. In the vegetable, as in the animal kingdom, 
there are some that remain a long time in the soil, without 
producing the least effect. Different means are employed 
to render them suitable to the wants of vegetation, as we 
shall see in the following lesson, treating of humus. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What must be done to make a soil productive ? 

2. Do organic bodies always retain the same form ? 

3. Is vegetation the source of reproduction ? 

4. What is it that renders the soil rich and productive ? 

5. What vegetables ought to be cultivated upon a poor soil ? 

6. What are the remains that certain vegetables leave in the soil ? 

7. Do all plants exhaust the soil 1 

8. Are all organized bodies formed of the same elements ? 

9. Of what elements are vegetables formed ? 

10. What elements form animals ? 

11. Do all organic remains decompose with equal rapidity ? 

* Hydrogen and carbon are two bodies very generally disseminated 
throughout natm-e. Hydrogen united with oxygen forms water. Carbon 
is nothing more than pure charcoal. Plants assimilate to themselves a 
greater quantity of this substance than of any other. 

t Azote is a body which, united with oxygen, forms the air that we breathe^ 



46 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

LESSON VIII. 

THE FORMATION OF HUMUS, AND ITS PROPERTIES. 

55. HuMUS results from the decomposition of organic 
bodies (see No. 8). The proportion and nature of its con- 
stituent elements are not always the same ; for in some 
cases animal, in others vegetable parts predominate. 

56. Straw, and the excrements of cattle, are destined to 
be transformed into humus. As this substance is of an 
earthy texture, gardeners give it the name of mould. This 
last denomination, however, has also been given to the 
manure derived from the cleaning of ditches and the sweep- 
ings of streets, that have been exposed for a time, in heaps, 
to the action of the atmosphere. 

57. Among the bodies forming humus, some are decom- 
posed in the open air, others in the bosom of the earth, and 
others in wet and marshy places, according to the circum- 
stances in "vvhich they may have happened to be placed. 
In the latter case, turf is often formed. This proceeds 
from the decomposition of vegetables that have grown 
successively, for a long time, upon the remains of plants 
similar to themselves. 

58. Turf, or peaty lands, are recognised hj their elas- 
ticity, their porosity,* and their blackish color. Turf is 
employed as fuel, and as manure. Turf formed under the 
water is devoid of any acid principle ; but that on the sur- 
face of the soil is often acid. 

59. The properties of humus vary according to the 

* Elasticity and porosity are properties possessed by all bodies in a greater 
or less degree. When a body submitted to pressure bends out, and resumes 
ita first shape after the pressure is taken off, it is said to be elastic. A 
sponge, for instance, is elastic. Porosity is a property possessed by bodies 
of being filled with holes, of a greater or loss size, and more or less numer- 
ous. Thus, the humau skin is very porous, as a square inch of it is pierced 
with many thousand holesi. 



ELEMENTS OF AGKICULTURE. 47 

bodies that it is derived from. That from fecal matters 
Cpnudrette) is more active than that derived from the ex- 
crements of animals. It is pretended that humus accruing 
from horses and birds produces a better effect on the soil 
than that from cattle. It is admitted that the excrements 
of pigeons and poultry are much more active, in similar 
quantities, than manures derived from other animals. We 
should not, however, as we shall see hereafter, attach too 
much importance to these distinctions in the value of the 
manures in more general use. 

60. Matters derived from animals, entering easily into 
putrefaction, furnish a humus of better quality than that 
proceeding from vegetable matter ; for these are often de- 
composed with great difficulty. 

61. Humus is sometimes acid, particularly in low and 
wet places, such as turf is formed in. When it has this 
property, it is injurious to vegetation. In this case, to 
render it fit food for plants, calcareous substances, such as 
lime, are put in the soil ; and they are in this instance a 
very efficient remedy. Moreover, in lands that contain 
carbonate of lime, sour humus is never found. Animal 
black may be substituted for carbonate of lime ; it is a 
substance derived from the calcination of bones. 

62. Paring and Miming, also, destroy the acidity of 
the soil. It consists in paring off the crust of the earth, 
some two or three inches deep, burning it in small hillocks, 
and in scattering the ashes. This operation has also the 
advantage of destroying noxious weeds and insects. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is humus ? 

2. Is it always composed of the same elements ? 

3. By what other name is it called ? 

4. Where are the bodies decomposed that form humus ? 

5. Where is turf found ? 

6. By what are turf lands recognised ? 

7. What use is made of turf ? 



48 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

8. In what ch-cumstances is turf sour? 

9. What distinction is drawn in the value of humus T 

10. Wliich is the best humus, that derived from animal or that from 
regetable matters ? 

11.' In which case is humus sour ? 

12. What means are employed to correct the acidity in humus 1 

13. In what does paring and bmning consist ? 

14. What other advantage does this mode possess ] 



LESSON IX. 

OF THE ACTION OF HUMUS IN THE SOIL. 

63. Organic remains that are decomposed in the soil 
produce two different effects : 1. They furnish the plants 
with a part of their nutritive principles. 2. They act 
upon the physical properties of the soil. 

64. The properties of the soil are divided into two 
classes. Those that relate to its composition take the 
name of chemical properties ; and those that concern its 
texture, its position, etc., are called physical properties. 

65. The action of humus, as food for plants, has heen 
very much discussed by modern writers. Some contend 
that humus, by means of the carbon that it contains, fur- 
nishes the roots with the greater part of the elements 
necessary to che vegetation of the plant ; and that a feeble 
portion only of these elements is derived from the atmo- 
sphere. Others, on the contrary, have maintained that the 
atmosphere supplies the greater part of the nutritive ele- 
ments, because the hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, that 
enter into the composition of all vegetables, are furnished 
by air and water, and are consequently derived from the 
atmosphere. 

66. This last opinion is in truth supported by some facts. 
Thus, we have some very productive lands containing very 
little humus. Some vegetables, supplied with water only, 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTUIIE. 49 

tind exposed to the influence of the air, have attained a fine 
development. But these are altogether exceptional cases ; 
and it must always be admitted as a general rule, that a 
soil yields fine crops only when it contains a supply of 
humus in proportion to the wants of the plants. More- 
over, that a vegetable should be able to derive its food 
from the atmosphere, it must already have grown out of 
the earth ; and it must consequently have received from 
the soil sufficient strength to perform this act. 

67. It is known that a good deal of carbon enters into 
the composition of all plants ; but they do not absorb this 
substance in the state in v/hich it is found in their organi- 
zation. It can only be absorbed by the roots and leaves in 
the form of gas, and united with oxygen that is in the state 
of carbonic acid. Plants exposed to the influence of the 
sun lose their oxygen, and the carbon combines with the 
other elements to furnish that infinite variety of products 
that vegetation displays. 

68. As to the physical properties of humus, it loosens 
the compact, and give consistency to light soils. By its 
color it imparts coolness to a dry soil, and can in other 
cases give warmth to the land. It renders stiff" soils per- 
meable to air and other atmospheric influences, and per- 
mits the roots of plants to penetrate the arable surface 
with greater ease. 

69. In light land that is hot and burning, humus is de- 
composed with great rapidity, so that it requires but a 
slight quantity to produce an immediate eff'ect ; but in re- 
turn these soils are soon exhausted. Calcareous soils also 
decompose humus with great facility, and for this reason 
such lands should be manured with substances of difficult 
decomposition ; for in a stiff" soil they would remain inert 
for very many years. 

5 



50 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. In how many ways does humus act upon the soil ? 

2. How are the properties of the soil divided ? 

3. What are the different opinions on the action of humus in the act of 
vegetation ? 

4. Are there facts that sustain one or the other of these opinions 1 

5. Can these facts establish a general rule 1 

6. In what state is carbon found when absorbed by plants ? 

7. What is the action of humus on the physical properties of soil? 

8. In what soils is humus most readily decomposed ? 

9. What substances ought in preference to be placed in calcareous soils 1 

10. What would they do in stiff soils ? 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 51 



CHAPTER II, 

The Physical Properties of Soil. 
LESSON X. 

TEXTURE AND DEPTH OF THE SOIL. 

70. The nature and the proportion of the elements that 
compose a soil are not the only causes that influence its 
quality or degree of fertility. The physical properties 
(see No. 65) exert also an influence that it is very impor- 
tant that the farmer should know. There may be a con- 
siderable difference in the value of two fields, even when 
they are composed of elements of the same nature, and 
are in the same neighborhood. This difference is due to 
several causes, tliat we will now examine. 

71. The first thing that a farmer should attend to, who 
wishes to lease or rent a farm, is the texture and depth of 
the soil. These are tvvro properties that should have the 
greatest influence, not only upon his choice of rotations,* 
tut upon the cost of cultivation. Of two farms of equal 
extent, one may cost twice as much to cultivate as the 
other. We may easily conceive, then, how important it 
is that the farmer should possess a thorough knowledge of 
the properties to which we allude. 

72. The texture or consistency of a soil is nothing more 
than the degree of strength with which its molecules are 
bound to each other ; this is what is called cohesion. The 
more consistent a soil is, the harder it is to work, and the 

* A system of rotation is that by which, on a given piece of land, one crop 
is made systematically to follow another. 



52 ELEMENTS OF AGKICULTURE. 

more impenetrable to the roots of plants. A medium con- 
sistency agrees best with vegetation. This may be ob- 
tained by hauling upon the land a quantity of humus ; but 
as this method would be too costly, particular substances 
are made use of (that we shall describe hereafter), called 
ameliorators (mmeral manures). 

73. If too close a texture is injurious to vegetation, too 
loose a one is not less so, and very sandy land is of little 
or no value. In a blowing sand, plants can not take the 
fixity that they require, and are forced to fall. 

74. All soils are not of equal depth ; they vary from 
half an inch to many feet. 

75. Deep soils possess over others important advantages. 
'They retain moisture better in seasons of drought, without 

becoming too wet in rainy weather. When equally rich, 
they furnish plants with a greater mass of food than other 
soils. Long-rooted plants, such as lucerne, and tap-rooted 
plants,* such as beets, parsnips, carrots, etc., thrive best 
in soils of great depth. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Are the physical properties of the soil of any consequence to the 
cultivator? 

2. What ought first to be looked to by a farmer wishing to lease or pur- 
chase a farm ? 

3. Why should we seek to know the texture and depth of a soil ? 

4. What is meant by the consistence of a soil 1 

5. What are the defects of too much closeness 1 
P. What is the best consistence ? 

7. Will humus bring it about ? 

8. What are the inconveniences of sandy soils ? 

9. Are all soils of the same depth 1 

10. What advantages do deep soils possess over others ? 

11. WTiich are the plants that thrive best in a deep soil ? 

* Tap-roots are those that descend perpendicularly, to a certain depth, in 
the soil. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 53 

LESSON XL 

SITUATION OF THE SURFACE. 

76. Whether the surface of a farm lies well or not, de- 
pends upon the nature of the soil. Thus, sandy land rarely 
suffers from being level, as it seldom retains too much 
moisture. Clayey lands, on the other hand, being natur- 
ally disposed to moisture, would evidently suffer from con- 
tinued rains, if so situated. The water not being able to 
penetrate through the earth, would remain upon the sur- 
face, and injure and sometimes kill the plants. 

77. Arable lands lie best when just sufficiently rolling 
to carry off the surplus water, with the assistance of the 
water-furrows that should always be made immediately 
after seeding. AVater-furrows are of great importance, 
and farmers are frequently great losers by neglecting to 
make them ; for wheat covered by water, in freezing 
weather, often suffers, and is frequently killed. 

78. In some cases, water-furrows do not remedy the 
evil of too much moisture. Recourse is then had to ditch- 
ing, or what is better, under-draining, which is done by 
digging narrow ditches, filling them half full with broken 
stone or brush, and then throwing the earth back into 
them. The water, when the operation is properly per- 
formed, will flow freely among the stones or brush, at the 
bottom of the ditch. 

79. Some farmers have even changed the nature of the 
subsoil, by replacing it with stone and gravel ; but this 
process is enormously expensive, and only applicable on a 
very small scale. 

80. Hilly lands possess some advantages over those that 
are level ; among others, the better exposition of the plants 
to light and air. 

8L But these advantages are overbalanced by serious 
5* 



54 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

drawbacks ; heavy rains carry off the soil and manures ; 
the ploughing is more difficult, and the hauling heavier. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What indicates the best situation that a soil should be in i 

2. May sandy lands be level ? 

3. Is it as well that clay lands should be level 1 

4. Hov/ do clay lands he best? 

5. What precautions should the farmer take to preserve his lands from 
too niuch moisture ? 

6. When should we under-drain ? 

7. What other means can be employed to carry oiF the water ? 

8. What advantages do hilly lands possess ? 

9. What are the objections to these lands 1 



LESSON XII. 

SUB-SOU,. 

82. The elements of the sub-soil are sometimes of the 
same nature as those that compose the surface ; but they 
have not the same properties, for they are deprived of con- 
tact with the air, and are rarely found mixed with mould. 
In other cases, the- mineraiogical elements of the sub-soil 
are of a nature entirely different from those on the surface. 

83. We may in general distinguish three species of sub- 
soil ; the clayey, the sandy or gravelly, and the calcareous. 
Depending upon the nature of the soil, each of these sub- 
soils, as we shall see, endows it with properties more or 
less favorable. 

84. A clayey sub-soil, beneath a clay soil, is injurious, 
as it retains too much moisture in wet weather^ and be- 
comes too hard in seasons of drought. This evil is some- 
what corrected by deep ploughing, which loosens the soil, 
rendering it more permeable, and capable of retaining a 
greater quantity of water, without being injurious to vege- 
tation. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 55 

85. If a sandy soil covers a clay sub-soil, it is much less 
exposed to the evil effects of drought, on account of the 
moisture retained beneath it ; and by deep ploughing the 
clay may be mixed with and thus improve it. 

86. These mixtures of the sub-soil and soil are not the 
only means that the farmer possesses of preserving in the 
land the moisture necessary to the vegetation of plants. 
Frequent working gives also to land the property of retain- 
ing moisture, and this is the case as well with a stiff as with 
a sandy soil. The cause of this has not yet been well ex- 
plained, but it is so ; and it is in contradiction to an 
opinion entertained by many, that frequent working in 
limes of drought is injurious to the crop. 

87. As a clay sub-soil is suitable to sandy land, just so is 
a sandy sub-soil favorable to a surface containing much 
clay. It permits the infiltration of the superabundant 
moisture, and may ameliorate the soil if mixed with it, 

88. But a sandy ssil, based upon a sub-soil of the same 
nature, being entirely too permeable to moisture, must 
suffer much from drought, and yield but indifferent crops. 
There is too great waste of manures, as their liquid parts 
sink too deep. 

89. When the soil is devoid of carbonate of lime, and 
the subsoil is calcareous, a mixture of the two by deep 
ploughing is evidently beneficial. Stiff soils particularly 
will profit by this mixture ; for at the same time they will 
lose a portion of their tenacity, become more favorable to 
vegetation, and rendered easier to work. But the carbon- 
ate of lime in the sub-soil must be in an earthy state, and. 
not in the form of stones, a few only of which, the schis- 
tous, can, as we have seen, become friable on the surface. 

90. From what precedes, we perceive that there axe 
many cases in which deep ploughing can improve the soil, 
and increase its products. It is true that, in certain cases, 
these workings appear in the first years to injufe rather 



56 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

than benefit the soil. This is the case when the sub-soil 
contains principles, such as the oxyde of iron, that may be 
fatal to vegetation. But generally in a few years these 
injurious properties disappear, after the elements brought 
to the surface have been acted upon by atmospheric in- 
fluences, and mixed with humus. 

91. The farmer sometimes contents himself (and per- 
haps it is the best plan) with merely stirring the sub-soil, 
without bringing it to the surface. It is then acted upon 
by the atmosphere, and gradually mixed with fertilizing 
influences. This operation is performed by a plough made 
for the purpose, called a sub-soil plough, which follows in 
the furrow immediately behind the ordinary plough. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Are the mineralogical elements of the soil and sub-soil of the same 
nature ? 

2. How many kinds of sub-soil are there 1 

3. Is a clay sub-soil favorable to a clay soil ? 

4. What is the remedy for too much moisture in a clay soil ? 

5. Is a sandy soil favored by a clay sub-soil? 

6. Do frequent workings preserve moisture in the soil ? 

7. Is a sandy sub-soil favorable to a clay soil ? 

8. When the soil and sub-soil are both sandy,i6 it favorable? 

9. Can a calcareous sub-soil improve the surface ? 

10. Which soils are. most benefited by mixture with carbonate of hme ? 

11. In what state should the carbonate of lime be to produce an effect 
upon the soil ? 

12. In what cu'cumstances would deep ploughing be disadvantageous ? 

13. How is the soU deepened without bringing the sub-soil to the surface ? 



LESSON XIII. 

THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON VEGETATION. 

92. The temperature requires great attention on the 
part of the cultivator ; for it is well known what influence 
it exercises on vegetation, and that it varies according to 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 57 

localities. In the northern states the cold is generally- 
intense, and lasts a long time ; whereas in the southern 
heat predominates. There are also countries that, by their 
position, are much damper than others, or which are more 
exposed to storms, hail, etc. It is to the aggregate of all 
these atmospheric circumstances, that we give the name 
of climate. 

93. We may adopt three climates; the northern, the 
southern, and the mean, or intermediate. But these three 
climates may be subdivided to infinity ; and it may almost 
be said, that each state, county, town, and village, pos- 
sesses a particular climate of its own ; for it is not a rare 
circumstance to see two neighboring places differ greatly 
in this respect. 

94. The position of a district or place influences its cli- 
mate greatly. There are places that enjoy a low (cold) 
temperature though beneath the equator. This comes from 
their position, which is much more elevated than the level 
of the ocean. This is partly the reason why the cold is 
always greater on the summit of high mountains than at 
their base ; and it is also one of the reasons why very high 
mountains, though in southern countries, are always cov- 
ered with ice and snow. 

95. Each plant has not only a soil, the properties of 
which suit it better than those of any other, but it has 
also a climate appropriated to its nature. Moreover, the 
species of cultivated plants are in many cases as different 
as the temperature of the place in which they are found 
is more or less elevated (warm). Thus it is that in the 
south the cotton-plant, the sugar-cane, and the fig, flourish ; 
whereas, if these vegetables were transplanted to the 
north, they would perish from cold. 

96. Crops ripen much more rapidly upon a warm than 
upon a cold soil ; so in southern climates vegetation is 
much more rapid than at the north. 



58 eleme:nts of agriculture. 

97. Vegetation in general suffers from intense cold, but 
more particularly that of certain plants. But what does 
the most injury, in these cases, are the sudden changes in 
temperature ; and the damage is greater to plants growing 
upon light soils. Whenever the temperature falls gradu- 
ally, vegetation suffers but little. It is for this reason that 
a frozen plant should never be .put in a warm place. To 
restore its vigor, we should give it a temperature that will 
cause it to thaw insensibly. 

98. It is particularly after great moisture that plants 
suffer when overtaken by frost ; for in this case the stem 
is more tender and watery. The water and sap, that are 
increased in volume by congelation, then burst the tissues 
of the plant, and destroy the vital principle of certain in- 
dispensable organs. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the climate of a country 1 

2. What are the principal climates ? 

3. Are there others? 

4. Does the position of a place influence its climate ? 

5. Can the same plants be cultivated in places of different temperature? 

6. In which climate is vegetation most rapid ? 

7. Is vegetation injured by cold ? 

8. When is a change of temperature most hurtful 1 

9. How must we proceed to thaw a plant ? 

10. In what circumstances do plants suffer most from cold ? 



LESSON XIV. 

THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE UPON CULTIVATION AND UPON 
ANIMAL ECONOMY. 

99. In the preceding lesson, we indicated the causes 
upon which the state of a climate depends, and its general 
effects upon vegetation. We have yet to consider it under 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 59 

another aspect ; its influence on the cultivable properties 
of the soil, and the rearing of domestic animals. 

100. A vegetable transplanted from one soil to another, 
does not at first grow with its original vigor. So is it in 
this case with men and animals. A sudden change of 
diet deranges for some time the animal organization ; and 
a transition even somewhat protracted is always necessary. 
Plants require to be gradually accustomed to the new cir- 
cumstances in which they are to grow ; and often, when 
removed to a new climate, their conformation is changed, 
and their products, in both nature and quantity. 

101. The study of climate is above all necessary when 
the object is to change, in any locality, the system of ag- 
riculture that has been for a long time prevailing there. 
In this case some trials should be made*to ascertain 
whether the plant desired to be introduced into the rota- 
tion will succeed. The same precautions should be taken 
with the animals to be employed in agricultural labor. 

102. In a damp climate, the defects of the lighter soils 
are less to be feared, as they are then less exposed to 
drought. The dampness of climate, however, does not 
depend so much upon the quantity of water that falls as 
upon the heat, more or less great, that causes it to evap- 
orate. But it is well known that one country may possess 
a dryer climate than another, though more rain may fall 
in the first than in the second. 

103. The Creator, who placed and arranged everything 
here in such admirable order, adapted also to man's wants 
all the plants that grow in the climate that he inhabits. 
In England, for instance, the climate, though damp in 
consequence of its vicinity to the ocean, is more regular 
than with us. Under such a climate succulent food is 
very necessary ; accordingly nature favors, to a remarkable 
degree, the development of such plants as are necessary to 
the maintenance of numerous herds. 



60 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

104. In the south, where the heat is greater, nature 
produces fruits, and other refreshing aliments, so necessary 
to man in warm climates. Animals too can be maintained 
differently from those in the north ; for there the temperature 
permits them to pass the whole year in the open air. In 
the United States, between Maine and Flori-da, we have 
almost every variety of climate ; consequently, in the way 
of agricultural products, the nation is singularly rich. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Does a vegetable transplanted from one climate to another grow oil' at 
once? 
2 In what instance is the study of climate particularly necessary ? 

3. Do the lighter soils sufler much in damp clunates ? 

4. Are the productions of the different climates adapted to the pecuHar 
wants of the inftibitants of those climates 1 

5. "What is the condition of the United States m regard to climate ? 
6 V/liat is theu- condition in regard to productions ? 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 61 



PART THIRD. 

CHAPTER I. 

Ameliorators. 

LESSON I. 

GENERAL VIEWS OF BIANURES, AMELIORATORS, AND STIM- 
ULANTS. 

1. Most of the products of Xm earth serve as food for 
men and animals. Among the latter, some furnish us 
with the necessary power to work the earth ; others give 
us milk, cheese, wool, meat, etc. But that animals may 
continue to furnish us* with these, the necessaries of life, 
they should be well cared for, and supplied with an abun- 
dance of healthy and nourishing food. 

2. So is it with the earth. She never refuses us her 
gifts if she is well cared for, and her strength renewed, 
after furnishing food to exhausting crops. 

3. All cultivated vegetables do not exhaust the soil to 
the same degree. The farmer should study carefully the 
properties of plants in this respect ; for it is the only way 
to establish a judicious and profitable system of rotation. 
Thus, after a crop of clover, the land requires no manure ; 
for it receives from this crop more than it gives ; and it 
may grow another crop more or less exhausting, depend- 
ing upon its previous condition. 

6 



G2 ELEBTENTS OF AGRICULTUKE 

4. That a soil should be productive, it must contain the 
mineralogical elements in suitable proportions. Each one 
of the simple bodies (silica, clay, lime, etc.) that we have 
described, is sterile in itself; it is only by their mixture 
that they can give the soil the qualities suited to vegeta- 
tion. 

5. If Nature has not always effected these mixtures in 
just proportions (and this is one reason of the difference in 
the value of land), she furnishes us, in return, the means 
of amelioration, that enable the farmer to supply this de- 
fect. It is precisely because the use of fertilizing means 
is neglected, that we see everywhere so much waste land. 

6. The soil requires two species of elements that it is 
important not to compound. Some accrue from organic 
bodies, and are called manures ; their principal object is 
to serve as food for plants. The others are the produce, 
for the most part, of the mineral kingdom, and take the 
name of ameliorators ; %ey give the earth advantageous 
properties relative to cultivation, by improving its texture 
when either too stiff or too loose. 

7. There are also other substances, such as piaster, 
which in most cases, without modifying the composition 
of the soil, give activity to the vegetation of plants, by 
forcing them to absorb more nourishment from the soil 
and atmosphere. These bodies are called stimulants. 

8. The same substance may perform more than one 
function ; it may serve at the same time as a manure and 
as an ameliorator. Dung, for instance, as we shall see 
hereafter, applied to certain soils, may at the same time 
furnish food to plants and force into action certain inert 
principles contained in the soil. 

9. It is of the utmost importance to the success of the 
farmer, that he should give his attention to soils that are 
deficient in their composition ; but above all things he 
eh'uld be acquainted with the mode of action, and the 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 63 

manner of employing substances that are so necessary to 
the amelioration of his land. This knowledge must guide 
him both in his choice of ameliorations and in the manner 
of their execution. It is for this reason that, after the 
study of soils, we introduce that of ameliorators, the em- 
ployment of which, in many cases, is indispensable. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Do animals furnish products useful to man ? 

2. What must be done to enable them to continue the supply ? 

3. What must be done for the earth to enable it to continue its supplies ? 
4; Are all plants equally exhausting 1 

5. What must the farmer do in this respect ? 

6. What is necessary that a soil should be productive ? 

7. Are simple bodies always mixed in suitable proportions ? 

8. Why are there so many waste lauds ? 

9. Which are the two species of elements required by the soil ? 

10. What are stimulants ? 

11. Can the same substances act in more ways than one on the soil? 

12. To proceed properly in the amelioration of soils, what knowledge 
sliould the farmer possess ? 



LESSON II. 

LIMING LANDS, OR THE USE OF LIME AS AN AMELIORATOR. 

10. Lime, as we have seen, is a compound of oxygen 
and a simple body called calcium. To obtain it, carbon- 
ate of lime must be submitted to the action of heat until 
calcined. The water of crystallization escapes in the form 
of vapor, and the result is quick or caustic lime. 

IL Besides the use that is made of lime in building, it 
is also employed as an ameliorator in those localities in 
which agriculture is in a state of improvement ; and if 
farmers have not often recourse to this means of incre'as- 
ing the value of their lands, it is be-cause they are gener- 
ally ignorant of the good effects it produces, or because 



64 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

they do not know in what circumstances liming can be 
advantageously effected. 

12. To use lime as an ameliorating substance, it is 
necessary that the farmer should know how to distinguish 
the soils that would be improved by the application of cal- 
careous ameliorators. In effect, it is useless to add humus 
to land containing already enough ; just so is it useless to 
add lime to land that has enough. It would be a useless 
waste of labor, and might produce injurious consequences. 

13. The carbonate of lime, then, as an ameliorator, is 
only suited to such lands as do not contain calcareous prin- 
ciples. It is easy to recognise them : whenever an earth, 
brought in contact with an acid, produces an effervescence, 
we may be certain that it contains a sufficiency of lime to 
produce the desired effect upon such organic parts of diffi- 
cult decomposition as may be contained in the soil. 

14. The spontaneous vegetation, also, frequently indi- 
cates the lands upon which lime may be used to advantage. 
Thus, those lands upon which broom, red sheep-sorrel, 
heath, the chestnut, and resinous trees, grow spontaneously, 
are generally disposed to increase in value by the applica- 
tion of lime. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the composition of lime? 

2. How is it obtained 1 

3. What use is it put to ? 

4. Why is not its use more general in agriculture ? 

.5. What ought the cultivator to know to make use of lime ? 

6. Are calcareous soils improved by liming ? 

7. How are calcareous soils recognised ? 

8. By what sign do we recognise the utility of limhig a soil ? 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 65 

LESSON III. 

LIMING LANDS (CONTINUED). 

15. We have seen that, as an ameliorator, lime is not 
suitable to calcareous soils ; but we are not thereby to un- 
derstand that it is to be employed with advantage on every 
other kind of soil. It has been remarked, on the contrary, 
that on certain soils, lime has produced no effect whatever, 
without its being possible to discover in their composition 
any explanation of the fact. 

16. We may then conclude that soils, independent of 
their composition, are more or less disposed to improve- 
ment by calcareous ameliorators. Trials should be made 
in this respect ; and this means of amelioration, where it 
can be employed, should never be neglected. 

17. Lime has frequently been employed with disadvan- 
tage, because it was looked upon as a manure. If organic 
remains are found in the soil, in tolerable quantities, we 
may certainly obtain by means of lime alone tolerably fair 
crops, for two or three years in succession ; but after this 
time we will have an exhausted soil, that will return with 
great difficulty to a productive state. By liming without 
manuring, we would give the soil a factitious activity, 
that would be followed by sterility. 

18 We ought then to consider the liming of land as a 
means of preparing the food of plants, and of putting in 
action mert principles that otherwise would have remained 
dormant and unproductive ; but we must not think that 
lime itself is a principle of nourishment. Perhaps, as is 
supposed by a distinguished German author,* limmg may 
also supply the roots with a quantity of carbonic acid, in 
addition to that furnished them by the humus. 

* See Von Thaer, in the " Farmers' Library and Monthly Journal of A^- 
culture." 

6* 



66 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

19. It is wrong to pretend, as some do, that the effect 
of lime is different as it happens to be in the state of car- 
bonate or that of quick-lime. Facts prove the contrary, 
and theory agrees with them. In effect, lime, when it 
comes from the kiln where it is quick, is deprived of its 
carbonic acid ; but it recovers it very soon when placed in 
the soil, by taking possession of that which it finds there, 
or by drawing it from the atmosphere. Thus, whether 
we place the caustic lime or the carbonate of lime in the 
earth, it must in the end be carbonate of lime that pro- 
duces the effect. Only lime deprived of its carbonic acid, 
may be employed in rather smaller quantity. 

20. We repeat, to fix the attention upon the utility of 
lime, that the farmer ought by all means to make a trial 
of it on a small scale, upon the different species of soil that 
he cultivates. He may be guided by the result of these 
experiments. Without this precaution, he would run the 
risk of losses, often heavy. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Does lime produce an effect on all soils that are not calcareous 7 

2. What ought to be done to ascertain if a soil should be limed ? 

3. What is the error that has often caused liming to be abandoned ? 

4. What is the effect of lime without manure? 

5. How ought we to consider the liming of land ? 

6. Is there a difference in the effect of carbonated and caustic lime ? 

7. What should the farmer do to decide about liming 1 



LESSON IV. 

LIMING LANDS (CONTINUED). 

21. We have seen that lime gives activity to vegetation, 
by the property which it possesses of decomposing humus, 
and rendering it sooner fit to serve as food to plants. It 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 67 

also destroys the acid principles in the land ; but this must 
not be in a low, wet state, or it must first be drained. 

22. Moreover, lime, when it acts, according to the 
opinion of some writers, gives additional strength to the 
straw of the different cereals, and thereby prevents them 
from falling or lodging. It corrects the defects of soils 
that are too cold and wet, and increases the porosity of 
those that are too stiff. It consequently influences, in a 
sensible degree, the yield of crops. 

23. We have seen (No. 19) that the effect of carbonate 
of lime does not differ from that produced by quick-lime ; 
this last, however, should be preferred, and for this reason: 
Calcareous substances, to produce all the effects to be ex- 
pected from them, should be in an earthy state. It is then 
necessary that the carbonate, before being employed, 
should be pulverized, or reduced to powder ; this is easily 
done by calcination. To pulverize it in any other way 
would be tedious and expensive. 

24. When we are assured that a soil contains no calca- 
reous substances, the next thing to be ascertained is the 
quantity of lime to be employed, and the time and manner 
of applying it. Here are some rules to be followed in 
this respect. 

25. The quantity of lime to be used depends, m general — 
1. On the durability desired to be given to the ameliora- 
tion. 2. The nature of the soil to be limed. 3. The na- 
ture of the lime that is used. It is by the examination of 
these three causes that we can ascertain the quantity of 
lime necessary to be applied. It is, however, understood that 
clay soils, particularly those that are cold turf-lands, and the 
soils in which organic remains do not readily decompose, 
require heavier liming than light and sandy soils. On the 
last, not more than half as much is used as in the first. 

26. Lime may be applied to the land in different ways, 
and at different periods. 1. It may be- laid on the surface 



68 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

of mowing or pasture land, and remain there mitil it is 
ploughed up for tillage, even though this should be several 
years afterward. The lime in this case quickly sinks into 
the soil, and, acting upon it, prepares it for crops when it 
is again tilled. 2. It may be spread upon the ground, and 
covered by the plough, just after a crop of any kind has 
been gathered. In this case, it prepares the soil for the 
succeeding crops. 3. It may be spread upon the surface 
even when plants are growing. This practice, however, 
though sometimes convenient, is rarely to be imitated. 
4. It may be and is most frequently applied during the 
season when the land is in fallow, or in preparation for 
what are termed fallow crops. 

■ 27. That lime may produce an immediate effect, it 
must be thoroughly mixed with the soil ; and this is why 
it is generally put upon a fallow, a year or more before it 
is broken up. There is a very simple machine now in 
use, called a lime-spreader, that is attached to the tail of 
an ordinary cart, which spreads the lime very evenly. 

28. The effect of lime is sometimes not perceptible 
until the second or third year ; this is when the mixture 
with the soil has not been properly effected. It is very 
important that land should be well drained before being 
limed, because lime improves only such as are moist by 
nature, and not by position. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the action of lime upon land 1 

2. What are the other eflFects 1 

3. Why prefer quick-lime to carbonate of lime ? 

4. Before liming, what is it necessary to know ? 

5. On what generally depends the quantity of lime to be employed T 
.6. Which soils require the most lime ? 

7. In what quantities is it applied ? 

8. How is the spreading best efiected ? 

9. What should be done to enable lime to produce an immediate effect? 

10. Is a soil in a wet situation unproved by liming ? 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 69 

LESSON V. 

MARL AS AN AMELIORATOR. 

29. We have seen (No. 42, second part), that marl is 
a compound of carbonate of lime mixed with clay, silica, 
shells, and other inorganic substances, in various propor- 
tions. The quantity of calcareous principles that a marl 
contains has a direct influence upon its use as an amelio- 
rator, and for this reason it has been thought useful to dis- 
tinguish several kinds of marl, that each suit soils of a 
different nature. 

30. The principal kinds of marl are : 1 . The calcareous ; 
those containing the most carbonate of lime, and which 
are consequently the richest. 2. Marl properly so called, 
that does not contain more than half its weight in calca- 
reous substances. 3. Clayey marl, that contains three or 
four times as much clay as marl. 4. Marly clay, that 
contains the feeblest portion of calcareous carbonate.* 

31. Marl can not always be recognised simply by the 
eye ; to distinguish it, it is necessary to have recourse to 
the means indicated in treating of the mineral parts of the 
soil. 

32. The same error that prevents the use of lime also 
prevents that of marl, in many instances, when it should 
be used. It has been often used as a manure, when it 
should merely be considered an ameliorator. "Whenever 
lime or marl is used upon a soil deficient in the proper 
quantity of organic remains, so far from producing any 
effect upon the physical properties of the soil, it will be 
apt to injure by giving it too much activity. 

33. Marl, by its beneficent properties, should play an 
important part in the agriculture of many districts in the 

* There are many oUier varieties not necessary to describe. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

United States, particularly along the seaboard, and in the 
southwestern states, where it abounds in vast beds of the 
finest quality. In New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and 
Virginia, exhausted and wornout lands have been brought 
to the highest state of productiveness by abundant marling. 
Its great abundance and richness, in the now wornout 
lands along the tidewater of the old southern states, will 
yet make them rival the virgin fertility of the western 
states, and perhaps give the tide of emigration a new di- 
rection. Like lime, it improves alike the texture of sandy 
and stiff lands, and it has the advantage of lime in being 
generally cheaper. 

34. Before using marl as an ameliorator, we should 
know how to discover whether a soil contains carbonate 
of lime ; and we should be able also to determine the 
quantity of this substance. To make this experiment (and 
there is no sort of difficulty about it), a portion of the soil 
to be tried is taken at a certain depth, and not on the im- 
mediate surface ; for this last might, independent of its 
primitive composition, contain calcareous substances, 
placed there at some period more or less remote. 

35. The following is the very simple process by which 
the proportion of calcareous matter contained in marl is 
determined. Take a set of delicate scales, and after dry- 
ing, without hardening, one hundred grains of the earth 
to be tried, they are put in a vessel, and a sufficiency of 
water to crumble it to an earthy consistence is added. 
Upon this a few drops of nitric acid are thrown, and the 
mixture is worked up with a wooden spatula ; efferves- 
cence immediately takes place ; and the carbonic acid es- 
capes. This last is replaced by the nitric acid, which then 
forms a nitrate of lime. As this body has the property 
of remaining suspended in water, it is expelled by several 
successive washings ; taking always great care that the 
other earthy particles are precipitated to the bottom of the 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 71 

vessel. After this, the residuum is nothing more than 
clay and silica, the weight of which is easily ascertained 
by the scales. If we then compare it with the original 
quantity operated on (that is, the hundred grains), the 
difference will be the exact quantity of carbonate of lime 
contained in the marl ; for the diminution is occasioned 
by the escape of the carbonic acid gas, besides the lime 
that was expelled with the nitric acid. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Why do we distinguish several kinds of marl ? 

2. Which are the principal kinds of marl ? 

3. Can we distinguish marl simply by the eye ? 

4. Why has so little marl been employed 1 

5. What is the effect of marl applied to lands that do not contain a suffi- 
ciency of organic remains ? 

6. What is the effect of marl on the fertility of lands 1 

7. Where does it most abound in the United States ? 

8. What is it well to know before using marl? 

9. How do we ascertain the quantity of carbonate of lime contained in a 
8oil1 

10. What advantage does marl generally possess over lime ? 



LESSON VI. 

MARL AS AN AMELIORATOR (CONTINUED). 

36. In the preceding lesson, we have made known the 
different species of marl, and also the means of distinguish- 
ing them. The question now to be examined is, to which 
species of earth is each kind particularly suited ? 

37. In general, as marl is only employed on account of 
the earbonate of lime it contains, it is without effect upon 
calcareous soils, unless the object is an amelioration by 
clay. The action of the farmer, as regards the ameliora- 
tion of calcareous as well as other soils, depends upon the 
object that he wishes to attain. 



72 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

38. Calcareous marl is thai which agrees best with clay 
soils. Clayey marl and marly clay are best suited to 
gravelly and sandy lands ; but the great quantity that it is 
often necessary to employ in this case leads to such expense 
as not always to permit the farmer to make such ameliora- 
tions. 

39. In case that it is desired to employ calcareous sub- 
stances on light lands, they should generally be used in 
small quantities ; for these soils are naturally disposed to 
dryness, and to decompose manures ; whereas, as we have 
seen, the reverse is the case with stiff lands. 

40. Marl properly so called suits, as it were, every kind 
of soil, giving porosity to the clayey and compactness to 
the silicious. 

41. Though marl is adapted to the amelioration of cer- 
tain soils, it does not follow that it is fertile in itself. On 
the contrary, a soil containing too much of it would pos- 
sess the defects of lands too highly calcareous, and it could 
only be rendered productive by unusual quantities of ma- 
nure. 

42. Marly earths favor the vegetation of certain plants 
that can serve as indicators to the farmer in search of 
marl. 

43. We have just demonstrated that the action of marl 
depended upon its composition, and that of the soils to 
which it is applied. As to the quantity that should be 
employed, it is subordinate to three principal circum- 
stances, namely: 1. The nature of the soil. 2. The na- 
ture of the marl. 3. The durability desired for the ame- 
lioration. This durability depends not only on the quan- 
tity of the marl to be employed, but also upon its richness. 
Generally, from twenty to sixty double-horse cart-loads 
are used ; but soils on which marl is used only for its clay 
require a much larger quantity. 

44. That marl may be effective, the soil must not be 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTUHE. 73 

wet. Though calcareous substances correct the defects 
of lands that retam water, it is when these defects pro- 
ceed from their composition, and not from their situation. 
45. It is generally in autumn that marl is hauled upon 
the land, because then it becomes rapidly friable from the 
effects of rain and frost, and can be more easily and evenly 
spread. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Does marl agree with calcareous soils ? 

2. What species of marl should be employed on calcareous soils ? 

3. What species should be used on gravelly and sandy lands 1 

4. Should marl be used in large quantities on light lands ? 

5. To what soil is marl, properly so called, best adapted 1 

6. Is a marly soil fertile in itself? 

7. Are there certain plants that by their presence indicate the existence 
of marl 7 

8. On what does the action of marl depend ? 

9. On what docs the quantity of marl to be employed depend ? 

10. Does marl improve wet lands 1 

11. At what time is marl usually hauled outi 



LESSON VII. 

CLAY AND SAND AS AMELIORATORS. 

46. It is important here to correct an error frequently 
met with in works that treat of the improvement of the 
soil. Almost all of them recommend clay as an amelio- 
rator of sandy soils, and sand for clay soils. Here again 
practice is in contradiction to theory, and has proved that 
clay and sand can not serve as ameliorators one to the 
other, as they will not combine ; or at least they do so 
with great difficulty. 

47. Let us examine the effect that each of these bodies 
is destined to produce upon the different soils. Sand 
ought to act upon soils in which clay predominates ; for 

7 



74 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

these soils, being generally too compact, and consequently 
too hard, require the application of substances tending to 
lighten them ; and sand, as we know, possesses this prop- 
erty in a high degree, when it enters in a sensible propor- 
tion into the composition of a soiJ. But to produce this 
effect, it must be combined with the other elements of the 
soil ; for where it is merely mixed with the soil, it does not 
loosen it. 

48. In fact, the experiments that have been made with 
sand prove that it has a constant tendency to descend 
through the arable surface, and that it reaches the sub-soil 
without having acted. It does not enter into the mole- 
cules of clay to form but a single body with them ; it does 
not then prevent these molecules from remaining agglom- 
erated among themselves ; and consequently it loosens very 
little, if any, stiff clay soils. 

49. But suppose even that the mixture of sand and clay 
was advantageous, this means of amelioration would be 
impracticable, on account of the immense quantity of sand 
required, and that it would be necessary often to renew, 
from its tendency to sink to the sub-soil. 

50. It is only where a clay soil is based upon a sandy 
sub-soil, that it would be advisable to seek to mix the last 
with the first, by means of deep ploughing ; and this 
should be done gradually, by setting the plough deeper 
each time the field is worked. The increase in depth 
should be gradual, in order to give the mineral parts of 
the soil and sub-soil time to adhere and combine, as it 
were, among themselves. 

51. Another means of ameliorating clay soils is to sub- 
mit the superficial crust of the arable layer to the action 
of fire. Panicles of the clay are hardened by the heat, 
and produce the same effect as gravel and sand. But this 
method of loosening the land is liable to the same objec- 
tion as that by means of sand ; the calcined particles being 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 75 

harder than the rest of the clay, are finally separated from 
it, and pass into the sub-soil. It has, however, the advan- 
tage of sand in being cheaper. (We will explain the pro- 
cess of calcination under the head Paring and Burning.) 

52. Ploughing at the proper season, the application of 
lime, and a sufficient quantity of manure, are the best 
means of ameliorating stiff soils. As the action of frost 
usually renders these lands more friable, they should be 
broken up in the autumn. 

53. The same reasons that prevent the improvement of 
stifi^ lands by means of sand, hold good against the im- 
provement of sandy lands by the use of clay. There are, 
however, but few cases in which the improvement of 
purely gravel or sandy lands will pay at all. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Can sand and clay serve as mutual improvers? 

2. Why is it that sand does not render stiff lands more friable? 

3. What other reason is there far not using sand as an improver of stiff 
Goils ? 

4. In what cases would it be proper to mix sand and clay? 

5. Is there not another method of improving stiff soils ? 

6. What are the best means to improve stiff land ? 

7. Why should not gravelly and sandy lands be improved by the applica' 
tion of clay ? 



76 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



CHAPTER II. 
Stimulants. 
LESSON IX. 



54. Ameliorators, as we have seen, do not exercise a 
direct influence on vegetation ; they are generally destined 
to modify the nature of the soil, by rendering it lighter or 
more compact (see Nos. 6 and 7). There are other sub- 
stances again which, without modifying in most cases the 
texture of the soil, exercise a direct influence on vegeta- 
tion, by exciting the organs of plants to draw a greater 
quantity of food than they otherwise would from the soil 
and the atmosphere. These substances are called stimu' 
lants. 

55. Sometimes a stimulant has also the property of 
modifying the texture of a soil ; in this case it may be 
called a stimulating ameliorator. Some kinds of ashes 
come under this head ; and it is for this reason that we 
treat of them immediately after the ameliorators. 

56. We give the name of ashes to the residuum left by 
the combustion of organic substances of vegetable or ani- 
mal origin. The efficacy of these ashes depends, in a great 
measure, on the elements of which they are composed. 
The principal kinds employed are wood, turf, and coal 
ashes. 

57. Wood ashes are the most valuable, and more gener- 
ally used. They are formed of salts, of earths, and metal- 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 77 

lie oxydes.* The smaller the quantity of earths and oxydes 
contained in ashes, the greater is their value. Slaked 
ashes produce a better effect than the unslaked. 

58. There is a great analogy in the action of ashes and 
lime. Like lime, they are best upon soils that are not 
calcareous, and upon those on which the carbonate of lime 
is the most effective. They loosen and increase the fer- 
tility of compact soils ; but it is only in favorable situa- 
tions, in the vicinity of cities, that they can be procured 
in sufficient quantity for this purpose. But in all cases 
they must be well spread. 

59. Ashes appear to agree better with well-drained 
moist lands than with those that are naturally dry. As is 
the case with calcareous ameliorators, they should never 
be considered as manures ; for they, on the contrary, hasten 
the exhaustion of the soil, by forcing the plants to take 
from it a greater quantity of nourishment. 

60. Ashes are exceedingly beneficial to almost all crops ; 
and in the vicinity of cities they are eagerly sought after, 
and used to an extent only limited by the supply. 

61. Ashes are very generally recommended to amelio- 
rate meadow-lands, applied to which, they enable the 
better grasses to compete successfully with moss, rushes, 
and other noxious plants. This is, however, not always 
the case. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the difference between ameliorators and stimulants? 

2. What is a stimulating ameliorator ? 

3. On what does the efficacy of ashes depend T 

4. From what are ashes principally made ? 

5. Of what are ashes composed ? 

6. On what does their value depend ? 

* The salts contained in ashes are, the carbonate of hme, the carbonate, 
the sulphate, and hydrochloride of potash. The earths are, silcrx, ahimine, 
and magnfesia. The metallic oxydes are, iron, and manganese. 
7* 



78 ELEMENTS OF jS.GRICULTURE. 

7. Upon what soils are ashta of the most value ? 

8. With what kind of land do they best agree T 

9. Should they be used as manures ? 

10. What is the efl'ect of ashes appUed to meadowJand 1 



LESSON IX. 

PLASTER. 

62. Plaster, as we have seen, is composed of sulphuric 
acid and lime. It is also called gypsum; but this last 
name is that by which the stone or rock is designated, be- 
fore it is ground into plaster. 

63. The manner in which plaster acts, and its value, 
have long been subjects of controversy among agricultural 
chemists; some contending that' it serves as a direct food 
to certain plants (Johnson), others that its utility consists 
in its power of absorbing the gases, and holding them in 
contact with the roots of vegetables (Liebig). 

64. It is sufficient, however, to state here, that it is a 
forcible stimulant to many cultivated crops, quickening, in 
a remarkable degree, the vital energies of plants. 

65. On some soils the action of plaster is scarcely per- 
ceptible ; but as it is a cheap substance, and of easy trans- 
portation and application, it should always be tried. Pro- 
fessor Johnson has ascertained, by analysis, that an ordi- 
nary crop of clover or sainfoin will yield per acre from 
one and a half to two hundred weight 9f sulphate of lime. 
This is precisely the quantity usually applied per acre in 
those parts of the country where plaster is in most genera, 
use. 

66. Plaster should be sown broadcast in calm weather, 
when the dew is still upon the grass, at the rate of a bushel 
to the acre. 

67. Plaster seems to act most readily upon corn, clover, 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 79 

peas, tobacco, etc. It has 'been recommended to whiten 
the floors of stables, to prevent the escape of the ammonia 
from the urine and manure. 

68. The application of plaster to timothy meadows is 
of doubtful utility, as it encourages the growth of the clo- 
vers at the expense of the other grasses. 

69. Plaster must not be confounded with other calca- 
reous ameliorators. These last act upon the soil by ren- 
dering it fit for any crop, whereas plaster in no way 
changes the nature of the soil. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is plaster ? 

2. How should it be applied ? 

3. What quantity to the acre ? 

4. Why is it of doubtful utility on timothy meadows 1 



LESSON X. 

PARING AND BURNING. 

70. As yet, this is a means of amelioration little used 
m the United States. Its efi'ects are very similar to those 
of calcareous substances, and in some localities it may be 
less expensive. 

71. The object of this process is to render active all 
inert organic substances ; it will consequently be of little 
use on lands containing but little vegetable matter. 

72. The operation of paring is usually done in dry 
weather, in spring or summer. The surface or sod is 
turned up with the spade or plough, to the depth of three 
inches ; the sods are then set on edge to dry, and when 
dry are disposed in heaps, in a shape favorable to combus- 
tion. Dry brush is then put under them, and slow fires 
kept up, until the whole are reduced to ashes. 



80 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

73. There are very few processes more beneficial to old 
meadows than this, as it destroys thoroughly all noxious 
plants, and vast quantities of insects. A good dressing of 
manure should follow this operation in the second year, on 
account of the stimulating effects of the operation on vege- 
tation. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What are the effects of paring and burning? 

2. What is the object to be attained ? 

3. When and how is the operation performed ? 

4. Why is it advisable to apply a dressing of maniire a year after the 
process? 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 81 



CHAPTER III. 

Manures. : 

LESSON XI. 

FORMATION, COMPOSITION, AND ACTION OF MANURES. 

74. All substances, both liquid and solid, of vegetable 
or animal origin, that by their decomposition fertilize the 
earth by serving as food for plants, are called manures. 
Thus, a crop of clover turned in by the plough, as it de- 
composes, furnishes a supply of manure of vegetable 
origin. The remains of dead animals, on the other ^and, 
furnish manure of animal origin. 

75. Manures may be divided into several classes: 1. 
Ordinary manure, a mixture of animal and vegetable sub- 
stances. 2. Animal manure, strictly of animal origin. 3 
Vegetable manures, as green crops turned under, straw, etc. 

76. The value of manures depends upon their nature. 
. Those of animal origin are usually exceedingly active, and 

of little duration. Among vegetable substances, those 
most valuable as food are also most valuable as manure. 

77. The continual application of purely vegetable ma- 
nures will not bring land up to the highest degree of fer- 
xility. They must be aided by animal manures, which, 
by means of the azote which they contain, exercise upon 
the soil a peculiar influence. 

78. Though in general the development of plants is 
greatly favored by the application of manures, yet there 
are cases in which they will do more harm than good, if 
great attention is not paid to their condition and mode of 



82 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

application. Thus, the liquid manure from the stable may 
burn the plants to which it is applied, if it has not been 
fermented and mixed with a due proportion of water. 

79. Other manures again, though beneficial to the growth 
of plants, are often injurious by introducing and encour- 
aging the growth of weeds that are afterward found diffi- 
cult to extirpate. This is more commonly the case with 
unfermented manures. 

80. The vast importance of manure to the farmer is too 
generally acknowledged to make it necessary here to argue 
the question. The profits of the farmer depend upon the 
quantity of manure that he applies to his crops. It is very 
evident that the amount of labor required to produce a 
crop is the same for poor as for rich land ; and yet what a 
difference in the yield ! 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is manure ? 

2. How may manures be classed ? 

3. Are they of equal value ? 

4. What are the most valuable vegetable manures 1 

5. Will vegetable manures alone give to the soil the highest degree of fer- 
tility? 

6. How are manures sometimes injurious ? 

7. On what do the profits of the farmer principally depend ? 



LESSON xir. 

MANURE (continued). 

81. Manure is a mixture of the excrements of cattle 
with stable-litter. This is the most important species of 
manure to the farmer, as it is generally that which he can 
manufacture most easily. 

82. To enable himself to make the necessary quantity 
of manure, the farmer should keep a quantity of stock pro- 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 83 

portionate to the size of his farm. In this respect, how- 
ever, it is difficult to lay down any general rule, and say 
that so many acres require so many cattle ; because the 
quantity of stock that a given quantity of land will support 
depends as much upon the quality of the land, and local 
causes, as upon the number of acres. 

83. In the production of manure, the quantity of stock 
is not the only thing to be studied ; all the animals on a 
farm should not only be fed, but well fed ; and the quan- 
tity of food that they will require depends upon their size 
and species. Besides, when the manure is thrown out in 
heaps from the stable, its value may be greatly affected by 
its management. 

84. The excrements of animals are not entirely com- 
posed of the residuum of the food that has passed through 
them ; they contam also certain particles belonging to the 
bodies of the animals. These particles are, in greater or 
less quantity, dependent on the fatness of the animal ; 
when the beast is poor, there will be fewer of these ani- 
malized particles that increase the value of the manure. 

85. Hence we may easily understand the great differ- 
ence in the value of manures accruing from well-kept 
cattle, and those that are barely kept alive. If the farmer 
contents himself with feeding his cattle on substances of 
difficult decomposition, and containing but little nourish- 
ment — as, for instance, straw — this food will pass through 
their bodies without undergoing any great change, and 
without being animalized, in consequence of the leanness 
of the beast, brought about by such a diet. 

86. If the quality of the food affects the quality of the 
manure, so does the^manner of keepiitg cattle affect its 
quantity. Cattle are usually kept in two ways ; at large 
in pastures, or in stables. This last method, if possible, 
should be preferred ; of course, allowing the animals to 
run out sufficiently for exercise. Sheep are, however, an 



84 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

exception to this rule, as they thrive much better in pas- 
tures. 

87. Wheja animals are pastured, there is a great loss of 
manure. "Without taking into account the manure lost, 
the pasture suffers much in wet weather from the poaching 
of the hoof It is generally thought that those meadows 
yield most on which the afterswalh (that is, the grass that 
grows after the crop of hay is made) is never depastured. 
Those farmers that keep their cattle up (soil them) con- 
tend that they get four or five times as much manure as 
they do when the animals are grazed ; but the advantages 
of soiling often depends upon local circumstances, climate, 
price of labor, etc. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is manure ? 

2. What must the farmer do to obtain the necessary supplies of manure ? 

3. Can fixed rules be established on this head ? 

4. Do excrements contain anything more than the remains of food ? 

5. What causes the difference in value between the manure fi-om fat and 
that from lean cattle ? 

6. Does the manner of keeping stock affect the quality of manure? 

7. What are the usual methods of keeping stock 1 

8. Which is to be preferred ? 

9. What are the objections to grazing ? 



LESSON XIII. 

LITTER, AND LIQUID MANURES. 

88. Litter is, in many ways, indispensable to the 
farmer ; it is indispensable to the h^lth and comfort of his 
stock, by affording them good warm beds in winter, and 
maintaining them in a proper degree of cleanliness. 
Again, as regards the formation of manure, it is of the 
utmost importance ; it not only moderates the activity that 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 85 

in pure dung is too great for some soils, but it renders the 
hauling and spreading of the manure much easier. 

89. Those vegetable substances most generally used as 
litter are straw, leaves, weeds, etc. But straw is usually- 
preferred, as it is a better absorbent of the liquids, and is 
more readily decomposed. 

90. The value of manure diminishes in proportion to 
the quantity of litter employed after we reach a certain 
point ; but still it is best to use it with a liberal hand. 

91. Urine is the most valuable portion of manure, and 
should always be saved with the utmost care. It should 
never be applied in a pure state, as its great activity would 
be hurtful to vegetation. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Why is litter of importance to the farmer ? 

2. What vegetable substances are usually employed as litter ? 

3. Why is straw preferred ? 

4. Does the quantity of litter add to the value of manure ? 

5. Is the urine of value t 

6. Should liquid manures be used in a pure state ? 



LESSON XIV. 

MANAGEMENT OF MANURE. 

92. The manure should be drawn from under the cattle 
every day. This certainly should be done with horses ; 
as to fattening cattle, some feeders pretend that they 
fatten more kindly when surrounded with a warm atmo- 
sphere, filled with vapor. A warm atmosphere is no doubt 
good, but it should be pure. 

93. It is not usual to haul manure immediately from the 
stable to the field ; in the meantime, the care that is taken 
of it, or its management, has great influence on its quan- 
tity and value. 

8 



86 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

94. The manure-heap should be made on a spot conve- 
nient to the stabJes and cow-sheds; and space should be 
prepared, in the form of a dish or saucer, of a size propor- 
tioned to the quantity of stock kept — so situated as to 
catch the drainage of the stables, and protected as much 
as possible from the access of rain-water. This basin 
should be made impervious to water, if possible, to pre- 
vent the loss by infiltration of the liquid manure. In the 
centre a short pump is often placed, to enable the farmer 
to get at any time a supply of the liquid, either for moisten- 
ing the manure-heap when too dry, or for spreading on 
his crops. 

95. The length of time that manure remains in the heap 
before decomposition takes placf, depends upon the spe- 
cies of animal that produces it. That from hogs enters 
more slowly into fermentation than that of horned ca^le. 
The manure from horses and sheep decomposes soonest. 
To avoid loss by evaporation, it is recommended to sprin- 
kle the heap two or three times a week with such sub- 
stances as plaster, to fix all the volatile principles. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. When should the manure be thrown out of the stable ? 

2. Is it as important to clean out the cow-shed every day as it is to cleanse 
the horse-stable ? 

3. How is the manure to be managed 1 

4. How is the cattle-yard made ? 

5. Which of the manures decomposes most rapidly ? 

6. Which decomposes most slowly ? 

'i. Why should plaster be sprinkled on the manure-heap? 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 87 

LESSON XV. 

VARIETIES OF MANURE. 

96. There is very little distinction made in farming 
between the different kinds of manure ; the employment 
of special manures is not as yet practised on a large scale 
in this country. The value of manures depends upon the 
quality of the food that the stock consumes, and upon the 
care that is taken of them. It may be useful, however, 
to say a few words upon each particular kind. 

97. Manures may be divided into five principal classes : 
that from horses, that from sheep, that from cattle, that 
from hogs, and that from poultry. 

98. Horse-manure is very active and ferments very 
readily. It is used by gardeners for hot-beds. It acts best 
upon clay soils ; but its effects are not permanent. 

99. Sheep-manure, when kept moist, ferments rapidly, 
and»is of more value than horse-manure. 

100. Cattle-manure does not decompose as rapidly as 
the preceding. It suits light lands better, and though less 
energetic, is more durable in its effects. 

101. Hog-manure is usually very valuable; but the 
value is dependent on the quality of their food. 

102. The sweepings of poultry-houses make a capital 
manure ; dried and reduced to powder, they make a good 
top-dressing to all crops. 

103. It is important that manures should undergo a de- 
gree of fermentation before being hauled out, as the seeds 
of weeds contained in it are thereby destroyed. As a gen- 
eral rule, barn-yard manure is given to the hoed crops that 
precede the small grains ; the quantity depends upon a 
variety of circumstances — the nature of the soil, the crop 
to be planted, etc. 

104. There are four modes of applying manures ; in the 



88 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

hill, the drill, ploughing under, and top-dressing. This 
last is the only one that can be applied to meadows. 

105. Manure should be spread upon the 1-aud as soon as 
possible after it is drawn out ; when left in piles upon the 
field, if a rain should come, the strength of the manure is 
washed out, and the crops would lodge in the spots occu- 
pied by the heaps of manure, and receive little benefit in 
other places. 

106. Liquid manures are applied by means of a hogs- 
head on wheels, similar to those used in watering the 
streets of cities; and are generally used on mowing- 
grounds. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Is there any great distinction made in general farming between the 
different manures ? 

2. On what, in general, does the value of manure depend ? 

3. How may the different kinds of manure be divided ? 

4. What are the peculiarities of horse-manm-e*? 

5. What is peculiar in sheep-manure ? • 

6. What in that of cattle 1 

I. What in that of hogs and poultry? 

8. Ought manure to be hauled out fresh, or decomposed ? 

9. Ought the maimre to lie in heaps for a long time, in the field, before 
being spread? 

10. How is Uquid manure carried out? 

II. On what is it generally used? 



LESSON XVL 

FOLDING SHEEP — ANIMALIZED MANURES. 

107. The folding of sheep, though not much practised 
with us, is very general in some countries, and is attended 
with many advantages. The system is best adapted to 
light, sandy lands, and to places of difficult access to the 
manure-carts. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 89 

108. The fold is usually made with netting or light 
scantling, so arranged as to be easily taken apart. The 
form is square. The sheep are driven in every night, and 
the fold is removed when the ground occupied by it is 
sufficiently manured. ' 

109. Among animal manures, we may mention flesh, 
blood, bones, horn, poudrette, etc., as all being exceed- 
ingly valuable. 

110. When a horse, or a cow, or a sheep, dies upon the 
farm, it should never be left to taint the air by its decay. 
It should be covered with mild lime, and then a heap 
of earth thrown over it, of some eight or ten times 
its own bulk. This earth becomes saturated with the 
fertilizing gases, and furnishes a lead or two of manure, 
well worth the trouble of making. 

111. Bones have been known and used as a manure for 
a long time past ; and on the lighter soils, to which they 
are adapted, they constitute the most valuable auxiliary 
fertilizing substance that has yet been discovered. The 
bones are reduced, in a proper machine, to the size of half 
an inch, and strewed upon the land, at the rate of twenty 
bushels to the acre. The effect on favorable soils is great 
and lasting ; and they succeed best on all light lands, on 
limestone soils, and on the lighter loams. On all wet 
lands, whether clays, damp loams., or moist gravels, they 
do not pay. The inference from this is, that iones are 
best suited for dry seasons and climates.* 

QUESTIONS. 

1. When is the sheep-folding system advantageous ? 

2. How is it done 1 

3. Mention the animal manm-es. 

4. How can the carcasses of dead animals be turned to account T 

5. What is said of bones as a manure ? 

* In the face of these facts, it would be incredible, were it not a matter 
of record at the customhouse, that people of the proverbia. acuteness 
8* 



90 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

LESSON XVII. 

VEGETABLE MANURES. 

112. The ploughing down and covering in the .feind of the 
crops of green, juicy plants, to act as manure, was a practice 
of the ancient Romans, and is yet followed in Italy, and 
other parts of the old world. This mode of fertilizing 
suits best in the warmer climates, where vegetation is 
rapid and luxuriant. The plants used for the purpose are 
of the leguminous kinds, clover, pease, buckwheat, etc. 

113. Green manures are often more costly than is gen- 
erally supposed. This is proved by deducting from their 
value, 1. The price of seed. 2. The cost of sowing, and 
the rent of the land for six months. We must infer from 
this, that this system is only profitable in the following 
cases : 1. When the lands are inaccessible to carts, or very 
remote from the farm-yard. 2. When other manures are 
not to be had, except at extravagant prices. 3. When 
there is a want of straw, or other litter, to make manure. 

114. The choice of the plants to be turned in must de- 
pend, in a great measure, upon climate. Thus, in the 
northern states clover flourishes ; whereas, in the south 
the pea, in different varieties, is substituted for it. The 
south has doubtless many valuable acquisitions yet to 
make from Europe, in the way of herbaceous plants to be 
used both as fodder and as green manure. 

115. The proper moment to turn in all plants that are 
used for this purpose, is at the time of blooming ; for, as 
maturity approaches, all the nutritive principles, distrib- 
uted in the different organs, combine to nourish the oviary 
and form the seed. This last then seizes upon nearly all 

of the New-Englanders, should suffer cargoes of bones to leave Boston, to 
enrich the fields of a foreign and a rival nation. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 91 

the elements of nutrition that the plant contains ; and, if 
we delay until it is completely formed, the value of the 
manure is lost. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What are green manures ? 

2. What clunates is the system best suited to 7 

3. Are green manures costly? 

•*. How are we to calculate the expense ? 

5. What plants are used as green manures ? 

6. How are we guided in the choice of plants to be Used for this purpose? 

7. At what time should the plants be turned under ? 



THE END. 



jj__SAXTON'S RU RAL H AND-BOOK S. r- ^ r^ 






^^' 



c^- 



"^O. 



ELEMENTS 



OF 



AGRICmTURE 

BY L. BENTZ, OP FRANCE, 

AND 

A- J. CHRETIEN DE ROYILLE, PROFESSOR OF RURAL ECONOMY; 

Approved and reeommettded by the Governmental Council of the 
Department of the Meurthe. 

TRi.KSLA.TEP AND ADAPTED TO THE USE OF THE RURAL PRIMARV SCHOOLS OF THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

BY F. G. SKINNER. 




PRICE TWENTY-FiVE*cl:>rrS.' f 



y / 



/ O^ /^^^^l-^/^ w ^ 



THE 

AMERICAN POULTRY. YARD; 

COMPRISING THE 

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BREEDS OF 



Domestic Poultrn; 



WITH 

Cotnplele Directions for 'Jie'r Breeding, Crnasivg, Rearing^ 

Fadeuing. and Pn'piiration for Mdrkel ; 

Including Specific Directions for Caponhing Fowls, and for the 

Treatment if the Principal Diseases to which they are subject. 

DRAWN FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES AND PERSONAL OBSERVATION' 
Illustrated by Numerous Engravings 

By D. J. BROWNE. 

With an Appendix, embracing the Comparative Merits of 
Different Breed of Fowls. 

By SAMUEL ALLEN * 

Price $1, in cloth — 75 els. with paper covers. 



PublUlicd by C. ITI. SAXTO.\, 153 Fulton Street, N. Y 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 

Mr. Browne was bred and bnniKht up a practical farmer. From his intimate know 
ledse of the liislory ntid habits of our domestic animals, having devoted, probably, 
nv>re uttenii«in to the t»ubjfct, iis a whole, by readinic and observation^ than any other 
individiKd in tJie country, the task of preparing this work was assigned to him.- 
i^lcm Rrg'islrr. 

The style of tlie engravings and the mechanical execution of the work are excellent 
— Maine Farmer. 

An extensive work on poultry, embracing every information desired. — JV. H. Tela 
grcp/i. 

We commend the book and the subject to the thotighta of farmers. — Vt, Watchman. 

Every one who may purcluLse a copy, upon a p»'rusal of the same, will t '"tUly Bati» 
fle<l that their money wiis well *peut. — W;-*>/o/ Pkirnii. 

It is oiie.of the best treatises on thp Domestic Fowl ever published. — JVcw-lfaw. 
Faltadtttm. ' 

The details into which this bqok enters, on all the subjects connected with the pro 
filablo raisin;,' of fowls, are pnecisely of lluit minute and practical character which iff 
neexletl. — A*. )'. F.oan^dist. 
jk, U'c are glad to see that the evident den:and for information on the subject iA 
rearifig Domestic Fowls has called out so valuable a work as the ou» before us. — JN". Y, 
Itaily Tribune. - ^ 

It conlaius matter to interest jmd instruct upon almost ever>'thing that concerns th* 
f>o<iltry yard, and bears tlie impress in its pages that its editor was well qualified tb 
fuUill t!.e tabk he undertook. — .inuricau Farmer. ' . 

It is the most complete book of its ola.sseVer published, and quite indispensable U, 
all wlioare interested in raising poultry.— CA«r/c.<!/»«, A\ C, IVeekly Oaiette. 

No fartner amjng us would remain a day lunger witliout the work, did he butkno 
Its valu«. — Railway liejrister. 

Il is lUKpiestionably the cheapest and best work of tho kind extant, and should ba 
place in e\ery farmer's library. — Grrm.intowv, Okiv, Gauttc. 

The volume is enriched by an .\pp«-nd1x fn>m the the pen of Mr. Snmuol Allen, ap 
exiK-rienced brwidor of fowls, who has Ukeii' m Jch pains lo impruxc the stock in tliil 
• tounlf y.— «V. Y. lVeclU§ Tribune. 



LEAp'09 



